Journey's Beginning
by Doctorhil
Summary: 10/Rose. POST JOURNEY’S END Rose and the Doctor try to work out the nature of the evil creatures that are haunting the mysterious little town of Nordstrøm near Bad Wolf Bay. But it might take them a while: they keep getting a bit distracted!
1. Love and Confusion

As the TARDIS faded into nothingness, the Doctor took hold of Rose's hand and turned to her. His face was closed and inscrutable. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. As she looked up at him, the tears brimming in her eyes welled up and spilled down her cheeks. He lifted his free hand and brushed them away.

Her eyes searched his face, drinking him in. She felt so torn and confused; he could see it in her eyes. She was clearly sad, happy and baffled, all at the same time. It was no different to how he felt, but seeing the confusion and hurt on her face made his hearts twist in his chest.

No, not hearts. He had to keep reminding himself he just had one heart now. He should have had at least a couple of regenerations left, a good two or three hundred years give or take a decade or so. But now he had what, about sixty years left, if that? It was a strange thought, but not something that bothered him too much. Not that long ago he'd have gladly traded everything he had for just one more day with Rose. He'd missed her so much that the pain had settled itself into him, becoming part of him in a deep, elemental way. They'd not had much time together; there was so much more he'd wanted to do with her, so many more places he could have taken her.

Now his alternate self had made off with the TARDIS, he wouldn't ever be able to take her to new places again. He'd really miss the way that her eyes blazed with excitement when she stepped onto a new planet; the way her face lit up, ready for an adventure.

Rose looked at the Doctor: the "new" Doctor, but he wasn't new, not really. Every line, every mark on his face, the way his eyes crinkled at the edges, the way his soft brown hair ruffled in the breeze; he was the same. Her heart flooded with happiness, but then she felt it drain away abruptly. He was staring at the spot where the TARDIS had been with a look of loss and pain on his face.

She let go of his hand.

"He doesn't want to be here with me," she thought. "He wishes he was back on the TARDIS. After all, he didn't really get a choice; he got left here, just like I did."

The Doctor looked down at her in surprise.

"Rose?" he said, softly. "What's the matter?"

She just shook her head, beginning to cry again. He put his arms around her, but she didn't do the same to him, though she did press her face against his shoulder. He reached up to stroke her back. She was so tense.

"She doesn't want me," he thought. "Even though I'm me, the same me, she wants the other version. How can I convince her that I'm no different? My other self said I was dangerous, a throwback to how I was at the end of the Time War, but how can that be true? I still have my memories. I was there on the street, running toward Rose, I remember the Dalek shooting me: the pain, lying on the ground, being taken into the TARDIS. Next thing I know, I'm sitting on the floor, naked, with Donna staring at me. I admit I felt a bit odd, a bit, well, human I suppose. But I'm still me. On the Crucible, Donna said I should wait for the Doctor before deciding to destroy the Dalek fleet. But I am the Doctor! And anyway, there was no choice to be made. That Dalek fleet would have invaded and destroyed every inhabited planet in the Universe. I couldn't have let that happen."

He was frowning, lost in his thoughts, looking out to sea, then realised that Rose was still crying and that he needed to at least try and lighten the mood. He gave her a squeeze, and tried to inject a jovial note into his voice.

"Well then, here we are: Dålig Ulv Stranden. I know it's poetic and everything: I get that. But I wish I'd not decided to leave us here; it's miles away from anywhere. Sometimes, I just don't get me. I mean, why didn't I just drop us round the corner from your place?"

He pulled away, leant back, looked at her and grinned: a cheeky, disarming grin that almost knocked Rose off her feet. It really was him, her Doctor. She reached out to him and he took her hands in his, still smiling. Then his smile faded, and he looked serious again.

"Rose I, I don't know what I'll do now, but if you'll have me, then..."

She didn't let him finish.

"Of course I'll have you!" she said through her tears. "I mean, remember Krop Tor? We thought we'd lost the TARDIS then too, but it was ok."

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "You said that you didn't mind, that being stuck with me wasn't so bad. Made me feel pretty good, when you said that. I mean, as good as anyone can feel when they're stuck on an impossible planet held in a geostationary orbit around a black hole!"

"Yeah, but it was exciting though, wasn't it?" she said, and immediately wished she hadn't.

The Doctor looked grave, and let go of her hands. He looked down, sighed and kicked at the sand with one battered trainer.

"I can't take you anywhere, Rose. That's the only thing that bothers me. There's so much more I would have liked to show you, but I can't...not anymore."

Rose looked at him, exasperated.

"Doctor, do you think that the only reason I fell in love with you was because you could take me to other times and planets? I've already seen so much with you, I mean, werewolves, ghosts, Cybermen, Daleks. Not to mention all the other things we've done!" she said, laughing. "Do you remember that planet we went to? The one with twenty moons, and each one was a different colour. The grass was blue, and the sea was that lovely shade of purple. Oh, and those silver mountains. Almost forgot about them! They were gorgeous."

"Myriad 5," he said with a grin. "Yeah, that was good."

"So you see, I've been places with you that I'd never have got to see otherwise, and I loved travelling with you, I really did. But, at the end of the day, it's not planets or aliens or adventures that made me love you. It's you, everything about you."

She looked up at him and smiled, and he read the truth of what she'd said in her eyes.

Hearing her say that she loved him made all his doubts and confusion float away. He leant in and kissed her, more deeply this time. The kiss was gentle and intense in equal measure, and Rose felt her heart leap in her chest. Eventually she pulled back and looked up at him. He smiled and his eyes creased at the edges, full of humour, wisdom and depth. She could really get lost in those eyes. She suddenly realised the truth of that clichéd old saying about how a person's eyes are the windows to their soul.

"You're you, aren't you?" she whispered. "I mean, really you."

"Correct-a-mundo!" he said, then groaned. "I made a promise to myself I'd never use that word again. I just can't pull it off."

"No, you really can't!" she said, laughing, and kissed him again before he had a chance to reply. Then from behind them came a familiar voice, which had the same passion-killing effect as a bucket of cold water.

"Knock it off, you two!" said Jackie.

They leapt back from each other, startled. Rose looked over the Doctor's shoulder and blushed.

"Mum!" she said, embarrassed. The Doctor span round.

"Jackie!" he yelled, grinning. He grabbed her hands and whirled her around, before giving her a peck on the cheek. She laughed in spite of herself.

"Oi! Cut it out! I've spent the last quarter of an hour wandering around climbing on rocks, trying to get my phone to work."

"Did you get hold of Dad?" asked Rose.

"No, you're kidding aren't you? There's no signal, we're in the middle of nowhere. We'll have to walk to the nearest town. Are you two lovebirds ready to set off now or what? The tide's coming in."

The Doctor laughed, and grabbed Rose's hand. They followed Jackie and started to walk along the beach, back towards civilization. Every so often he'd look at Rose and smile with a happy, amazed look on his face. His giddiness was infectious and Rose couldn't help but laugh. He was just like he'd been before she'd been parted from him, on that awful day in Torchwood Tower.

She'd not felt the same lightness in the other version of him, the brown suited, grim-faced Doctor. He was still her Doctor, she knew that. But he had seemed different, older somehow, more serious.

The Doctor who was with her now was more like the person she remembered, the person she'd carried with her in her heart during the two long years they'd spent apart. Thinking about the other version, she now realised how deeply losing her must have hurt him. It had taken away some of his spark: the cheeky, joyful excitement that she loved about him, and which now seemed to be back with a vengeance judging by the way he kept stopping every few seconds to spin her round, hug her, kiss her or occasionally a combination of all three. Jackie was showing her tactful side for once and was walking far ahead of them, clearly trying to give them a bit of privacy.

Rose daydreamed and made plans as they walked. They'd need to hire a car and head to Bergen to catch a Zeppelin home. A plane would be faster, but she liked the airships; they were a great way to travel, quiet and environmentally friendly. They flew much lower than a plane so you could see everything as you passed over it: famous landmarks, towns and rivers, you name it. It was great, gorgeous. She often wondered why they weren't used in her world, her original world that is. This world was so familiar now that she'd started to take its oddities for granted.

Just like she accepted the Doctor's quirks. "Guess people just get used to stuff," she thought, and smiled.

The Doctor returned her smile and grinned again, then squeezed her hand.

"Penny for 'em?" he asked.

"I was just thinking how people can get used to pretty much anything."

"Yeah, you humans are an adaptable lot. Well, I say 'you humans' but I guess I should start saying 'us humans' now, shouldn't I? I'm part human now after all. Dunno which part exactly."

He grinned, but underneath he seemed a bit troubled.

Rose looked worried.

"Are you ok about it? I mean, you regenerate, and suddenly you're a different species, well, partly. Must have been a bit of a shock."

He looked at her, wondering what she must be thinking.

"I'm still the same, Rose," he said gently. "It's just, without my other heart I'm not going to regenerate again, ever, and that's a bit strange for me. Regeneration is…was…part of who I am. It'll take some getting used to. I'll have to be a bit more careful, for starters. Look after myself a bit better. No more chips!" he said, then grinned. "Nah, only kidding. Gotta have chips!"

Rose frowned.

"Do you wish it hadn't happened? You know, becoming part human?"

She bit her lip and looked away from him, not meeting his gaze. He reached down and took hold of her chin gently, tilting her head up, forcing her to look at him. He brushed her lips lightly with his own, then pulled back and gazed deeply into her eyes.

"Rose Tyler, I've been around for over nine hundred years and I can honestly say I've never been happier than I am right now, standing here with you. This is a gift, an amazing gift. I get to be with you, grow old with you, something I never thought would be possible. It's the ultimate adventure: one that I never thought I'd be able to have. Don't ever think that this isn't what I want, you're...you're..."

"Brilliant?" said Rose with a cheeky smile. He laughed, and kissed her again. His arms came up and wrapped around her, pulling her against him. She revelled in the feel of him, the taste of him. He was hers, finally. He even smelt the same, a soft, delicate, slightly musky scent that made her think of freshly mown grass.

It was intoxicating; she'd missed him so much. As their kiss began to heat up, she pressed her body against his. He made a low, involuntary growl of pleasure and reached down to run his hands over her hips. She felt the sound as well as hearing it; it vibrated against her lips and sent a hot, electric buzz running down her spine, making her tremble and push herself even closer to him. He deepened the kiss and she felt his tongue tentatively touch hers. She moaned softly and reached up to tangle her hands in his hair, tugging on it, pulling his head closer...

Then suddenly she was all too aware of where this was going and the fact her mum was just up ahead, and she very reluctantly pulled away.

"Plenty of time for that later," she said with a foxy, cheeky smile. He laughed and let her go.

"Is that a promise?" he replied, then immediately frowned and looked awkward, as if he'd just crossed an invisible line. She saw his discomfort and couldn't help chuckling.

"Hey, come on; don't go all shy on me now. It's taken me all that time just to get a snog, don't start playing hard to get again!" she said, laughing.

But he seemed determined to keep things serious. They carried on walking. He was looking straight ahead as he spoke.

"Rose, the reason I never, well…you know…was because I just didn't think it would be fair. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to throw caution to the wind and just take you in my arms and kiss you, but I couldn't. What could I have offered you? Roaming the universe, getting us into trouble, never settling down. Not to mention the age difference: 903 and 20? Half the time I felt like a dirty old man for even thinking of you like that. So I fought it. Every day was a battle against my feelings, I hid them, tried to pretend that I didn't love you, that we were just mates. And it was hurting you, I could tell."

He looked at her then, and saw tears in her eyes.

"Yeah," she said, after a few seconds. "It did hurt a bit. But I was with you, so it was ok. I got to see you every day, live my life with you. Last time we were here, when you faded away and disappeared, I felt how apart we were: me trapped here in this other universe, I thought I'd die, I really did. God knows what I would have done without Mum and Dad, and Mickey too. They watched me round the clock, kept me safe. They helped me survive. But there was also this little, tiny bit of hope, the hope that maybe, somehow, I'd see you again one day. And that's what kept me going more than anything."

"Rose," he whispered, and stroked her face. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said. And they kissed yet again; for so long that Jackie was just a dot in the distance by the time they broke apart. Laughing, they ran after her hand in hand.

Just before they reached Jackie, he turned to Rose.

"You're holding my special hand, by the way. I love this hand!" he chuckled, but Rose looked a bit alarmed for a second and let go.

"What do you mean?" she said, although she wasn't sure she really wanted to know.

He held it up and wriggled his fingers playfully.

"It's the one the Sycorax cut off. Donna touched it just as the TARDIS was about to be destroyed. That's what triggered my second regeneration. It didn't half freak her out. She said I was bonkers!"

He laughed, remembering how surprised she'd been.

"I'll bet! Doctor Donna. She was amazing." Rose laughed too, and then frowned. "Is she going to be ok?"

The Doctor suddenly looked very serious indeed, becoming more like the other version of himself for a second.

"I wish I'd had the chance to say goodbye. Donna was great. Really great."

"She was. I'm glad she's with the other you. I don't like to think of you...him...being on your own out there."

The Doctor said nothing. He didn't want Rose to know that there was a chance that the alternate version of him could end up alone, it would upset her too much. He knew that Donna couldn't absorb that regeneration energy; humans just weren't built for it. He hoped his other self could find a way to save her that didn't involve wiping her mind, but it was the only thing he could think of that would have a chance of working. In fact, part of him could still faintly sense what his other self was thinking, just barely. Once the tear between the worlds healed, he knew that connection would fade.

But for now, he could still feel the other him, and he was hurting deeply. He didn't doubt that it was because of Rose, but he also got the sense that he'd lost Donna too, although whether she'd died or had simply been made to forget her adventures with him, he didn't know.

Then, it suddenly occurred to him that if he could still feel the other Doctor, that meant his other self could sense what was happening here too. He took Rose's hand and placed it on his chest, holding it in position.

"What...what are you doing?" she asked, looking confused.

He looked deep into Rose's eyes and focussed his mind on the other version of himself, allowing the other Doctor's pain to well up until it felt like the two halves of him were together again. He waited until he was sure the connection was at its peak, until he could almost make out the shadowy outline of the TARDIS around him, like a ghost. The beach was still visible, but it had faded slightly.

Looking down, he saw that a faint hint of brown was visible in his suit. As the connection peaked and he felt himself merge completely with his other self, he leant in and kissed Rose more deeply than ever before, drawing her against him so tightly that for a second she seemed to merge into him as well.

In the TARDIS, the other Doctor froze in shock, unable to believe what was happening. He closed his eyes to boost the faint, ghostly sensation of Rose's lips on his. Without even thinking, he kissed her back. At the same moment, the connection between him and his other self seemed to surge and suddenly he could see her too. He was on the beach with her, just for a second, and time seemed to stop as his mouth found hers again and they shared an awestruck, searching, passionate kiss. The two Doctors became one, just for a moment, but it was long enough.

"I love you," he said. "I always will." She leant back and looked into his eyes, amazed and happy. Then, the gap between the worlds began to close and the shadowy shape of the TARDIS around her began to fade. But just before it closed completely, she saw some of the pain in his face lessen. Some of the seriousness in his eyes drained away and he smiled. Then the last of the brown faded from the blue suit and the Doctor was divided again. But she finally knew for sure that he was still the same.

Some of the "new" Doctor's happiness had passed into the other Doctor, and she could see that the new Doctor had taken on some of his counterpart's pain in return. The Doctor looked sad for a second, but it didn't last long, not with Rose standing in front of him, looking so alive and beautiful and brilliant.

He laughed, picked her up, kissed her and spun her around until she was giddy and laughing and crying all at the same time. When he finally put her down, she took his arm and leant against him. She was so happy that she felt like she might actually explode. They set off together, his arm around her, holding her as they walked along the beach.

To their left, the sun was beginning to sink into the sea and the horizon was a rich pink-purple colour, with banded streaks of orange, crimson and gold. The sea reflected the colour in the sky: it was beautiful. They stopped to admire the scene. After a minute or two, Rose turned to look at him.

"So, how long are you going to stay with me?" she asked.

"Forever," said the Doctor, and kissed her.


	2. Nordstrøm Nights

Jackie, Rose and the Doctor reached Nordstrøm just as the last of the light drained from the sky. The long walk from Bad Wolf Bay had taken them along a series of deserted coastal roads, and they were all relieved when they finally sighted the little community: the only town for miles around. It was a small, sleepy place, nestled between pine-covered hills.

They were all tired, emotionally drained and footsore. It had been an incredibly tough few days, and Rose was almost asleep on her feet, leaning on the Doctor's arm and occasionally stumbling as they walked along the town's only street. It was rough, muddy and lined with tall, rickety wooden buildings that had a vaguely nautical air. They needed to find somewhere to stay, but they couldn't see anywhere that looked like an inn or guesthouse.

Jackie occasionally stopped to take out her mobile phone and wave it around, but each time she just ended up tutting and shoving it back into her pocket.

"Still no bloody signal. It can't even find the network. How am I meant to contact your Dad? He'll be worried."

Finally, just as they neared the end of the silent street, a door opened and a local peered around it, looking at them suspiciously. She was an older woman, her dark grey hair pulled back in a tight bun.

"Kvar kjem du frå?" said the old woman. Her tone was decidedly unfriendly.

Rose turned to the Doctor automatically. He looked unsure of himself, something that was so rare as to be almost unheard of. He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged.

"Er, hello! Do you speak English, by any chance?" he said, hopefully.

She shook her head.

"How about Gallifreyan? Judoon? I know a bit of Judoon! Sko po tro fro jo ko fo toe do?"

The woman just scowled at him.

"I'll take that as a no, then."

Jackie tutted and barged forward. "Honestly, what are you like at all? It's easy, speaking foreign. Just leave this to me, I'll show you how it's done. I'm good with languages; I've got an O-level in French. Well, I didn't pass, but I sat the exam." She walked up to the woman, stuck her head forward and said, very loudly, "Bonjour! Could…you…tell...moi...the…way…to…the…nearest B and B?"

The old woman slammed the door in her face, and Jackie jumped backward in surprise, colliding with Rose, who put out an arm to steady her. "Ow! Daft old cow! What'd she go and do that for?"

"Shh, Mum," said Rose. "We'll be alright. Look, there's a pub or something at the end of the road, we'll ask in there."

The bar was at the end of the street and looked fairly run down. There was an old sign, but it was so worn that they couldn't even make out the name of the place. The blue paint was flaking from the outside of the wooden building. As they walked in, everyone in the bar stopped speaking and turned to stare at them. Rose felt like she'd walked into a Wild West saloon or something.

It was dark, smoky and split into two levels. Some people were leaning on a railing on the higher level and looking down at them. The Doctor seemed to hesitate for a second, then squared his shoulders and walked up to the bar. Rose and Jackie stayed by the door, looking a bit worried.

"Hello!" said the Doctor cheerily. "Does anyone in here speak English, French or Gallifreyan?"

The bartender gave him a long, appraising stare, then nodded. "Velkommen. I speak Engelsk, little bit." His face was closed off, suspicious. "How came you here? There is not transport on Søndag."

"Sunday! Ah, right. Of course. No, we came from the bay, er, stranden! Dålig Ulv Stranden, to be precise."

This was clearly the wrong thing to say. There was an audible intake of breath from the people sitting nearby, and several stood up. Hurried, whispered conversations sprang up all around the room and the atmosphere became suddenly icy.

"Vekk med deg!" shouted the barman. "Go away from here!"

Rose stepped forward. "Hang on, why? What are you on about?"

The bartender glared at her. "You say you came from bay. It is…bad place. And you: I remember you, you came through here two years ago with the woman there, and two men."

"Yeah, but I don't know how you even remember that. We didn't stop, just drove right through," said Rose dismissively, not wanting to think about the worst day of her life. Her memory of that day was still too raw and painful.

The drive back had been the worst part, because she'd secretly hoped that there wouldn't be a journey back, not for her. When she'd heard the Doctor's voice calling her across the sea, she'd hoped he'd found a way to come back for her properly. She'd expected to see the TARDIS there, waiting for her with him in the doorway, reaching out to her. But he'd just been an image. No touch, nothing. And then he'd disappeared so suddenly. Mickey and her mum had run over to comfort her, but there was nothing they could do to make it better. She had to be carried to the car, sobbing, paralysed by grief and loss.

But that was all in the past now, she had to remind herself. She walked up to the Doctor and took hold of his warm, dry hand, taking comfort in the reality of him. He looked into her eyes and gave her a small, sorrowful, compassionate smile, realising what she must be thinking about.

"We all remember," said Lars. "The only way to the bay is through our town. We have to watch closely who goes there. Sometimes they do not come back. It is a bad place."

"Yes," said the Doctor impatiently. "You keep saying that. But what do you mean by 'bad place' exactly. What kind of things have you seen?"

The bartender looked terrified. "I cannot speak of it. You should not ask such things. Go away!"

The atmosphere in the room was turning decidedly hostile. The Doctor held up his hands in an appeal for calm.

"Ok, ok. Sorry I asked. Look, if you could just point us in the direction of the nearest hotel or whatever, we'll be on our way."

"We have no boarding houses here. Nearest one is in Ulven, fifteen kilometres away."

"You've got to be kidding!" said Rose. "How are we meant to get there?"

The barman shrugged, not meeting her eyes. Then he looked the Doctor's face and almost dropped the glass he was holding. Rose turned to look too. The Doctor's face was suffused with anger, and he was staring at the unhelpful bartender with a cold, grim expression on his face, his eyes blazing. Even Rose was alarmed.

"Alright, oncoming storm. Knock it off," she whispered. But he continued to stare at the barman angrily.

Intimidated by the Doctor's obvious rage, the bartender relented. "I have a room upstairs you can use. No cost. But tonight only. You must be away from here by first light tomorrow."

This clearly didn't go down too well with the other inhabitants of the town, and one by one they left the bar, muttering under their breath. Once they'd all gone, the bartender locked the door and turned to the Doctor.

"If you are staying in my home, I should offer you my hand at least." He held it out, and the Doctor shook it.

"I am Lars Håvardsson. Hva heter du? I mean, what is your name?"

The Doctor frowned for a second. "Good question," he said, under his breath. Rose stepped forward.

"He's John Smith," she said brightly. "And I'm Rose, Rose Tyler. This is my mum, Jackie."

Jackie shook his hand reluctantly, looking around the dingy bar as she did so.

"Rose," she whispered. "This isn't really what I had in mind, you know. I've been running around for the last day and a half looking for you, been captured by Daleks, nearly got vaporised by that death ray thing. I could really do with a hot bath at least."

Rose shushed her, embarrassed by her rudeness. She didn't want Lars to change his mind and chuck them out. But he seemed amused.

"Tsk! We Scandinavians invented baths, I have good one! Come and I will show you." He winked at her, and led them up a flight of steps onto the higher level that overlooked the bar. It was like a corridor: on one side there were doors leading off it, and on the other were the railings that people had been leaning on earlier when they'd first come in.

They walked along it until they reached a small door at the far end. Lars threw it open proudly, to reveal a small, cramped bathroom with a rather sorry looking bathtub in one corner. There was also an ancient looking toilet with a pull-chain, and a cracked hand basin. The room was chilly and damp.

"Ah, you see! Just like five-star hotel! I will run you a bath!" said Lars enthusiastically.

Lars seemed to have taken quite a shine to Jackie. She looked a bit taken aback. Rose had to bite her lip to keep from laughing, and almost couldn't stop herself when she looked at the Doctor and saw that he was trying hard not to laugh as well.

"I can't have a bath in here! It's freezing!" said Jackie.

"Ah, no, but the water is hot!" he pointed to the copper piping that ran around the little room. There are thermal springs under our town. Very nice minerals, good for you. No more aches and pains. See?" he turned a lever and after a brief, ominous silence and a couple of asthmatic noises from the piping, the tap burped out a thin stream of hot, brown, sulphurous water.

Jackie backed away, shaking her head. "Sorry, Lars, that's not my cup of tea, if you get my drift."

He clearly didn't, and just looked at her blankly. She patted him on the arm in a friendly sort of way.

"I think I'll just turn in, if that's ok." Lars looked disappointed, but backed out of the little bathroom back into the balcony-like corridor. He opened the door of the first room on the right, and they stepped inside.

It was large but bare. There were a couple of chairs and a side table but that was about it. There was only one bed, just big enough for two. None of them looked at each other.

"Er," said Rose. "Are we all sharing this room?" she asked Lars.

"Yes. I only have two rooms. This is spare. But I have blankets you can put on floor," he said, then he turned to Jackie with a hopeful expression on his face.

"Unless you would like to sleep in my room?" he said with a wink. "Then this young lady and her man friend can have this room to themselves."

"Not on your nelly!" she said to him. Although he clearly didn't understand the words, her sentiment was clear enough. He turned and hurried off. She tutted.

"I dunno, these foreigners. What are they like at all? I'm a married woman!"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "No problem," he said. You and Rose can take the bed. Don't need much sleep me, never have." He smiled.

"Yeah, but…" said Rose, about to say that he only one heart now. But then she saw how tired he looked and realised that he knew full well that he needed sleep. He was just saying that so that they wouldn't feel bad about taking the bed. She squeezed his hand and he gave her a very chaste peck on the cheek.

Her mum's presence was really bothering Rose. She appreciated her coming to look for her and check she was ok (even though she'd specifically asked her not to). She'd left Tony behind to do that, which couldn't have been easy, he was only eighteen months old, after all. But it was so frustrating, having the Doctor so near after all this time, and yet not being able to…

Her train of thought was interrupted by Lars bustling back into the room with two quilts and a couple of blankets, which he threw on the floor. Then he disappeared again and came back a couple of minutes later carrying a tray. On it was a plateful of bread, various types of meat and some tall glasses of beer. He set it down on the side table and they all helped themselves.

"Thanks," said Rose, "I'm starving!"

Lars smiled. "I am sorry I was not friendly when you arrived. It has always been hard here, but these last few years, well, there have been many strange things happening. These things…I don't even have the words to describe them, not in Engelsk."

"Try," said the Doctor, softly. Rose wondered what he was thinking.

"Ach. Well, for years there have been legends about Dålig Ulv Stranden. It is a bad place: jaevlig."

"Jaevlig?" asked the Doctor.

Lars nodded, then realised that the Doctor didn't understand what he meant, and sighed. "I don't know how you would say in your language…satanish?"

"Devilish," said Rose, looking uneasy.

"Ja!" said Lars. "That's it. It has always been a devilish, evil place, and we try to avoid it. Then, two years ago, it got worse. It was at that time with all the trouble with the metal men. We heard about it even here, although I never saw one myself. But out in the bay, my cousin was fishing and he said that the sky…ach, I do not know the word…the sky was fremragende." He took his empty beer glass and mimed throwing it onto the floor.

"Fractured?" asked the Doctor. "Broken?"

Lars nodded. "Ja. And he said that things came from the sky, dark, terrible things. They made him so afraid that he could not bear to look at them. He turned his boat around and fled."

"How many were there? Can you describe them? What do they look like?" asked the Doctor, his voice was low and calm, but it was tinged with frustration. Rose moved to stand beside him and took hold of his hand.

"We do not know," said Lars, apologetically. "They do not have a shape. We just call them the Halvmørke."

"Halvmørke?" said the Doctor, exasperated. "What does that mean?"

"I am not sure how you say exactly in your language. It means blackness, shadows..."

Rose and the Doctor looked at each other, unspoken thoughts passing between them.

"Rose, can I have a word?" he said. They slipped out of the room and he pulled the door closed behind them. Despite the rather worrying turn the night had taken, she couldn't resist the urge to grab him and give him a deep, searching kiss. He grinned and wrapped his arms round her waist.

"Hey, we've got a situation here," he said with a smile. "There are 'dark, terrible things' about, remember?"

"I know, I know. Aren't there always?" she said, smiling back. "So what do you reckon these 'Halvmørke' things are then?"

He sighed. "Could be anything, really. Most worlds have places where the walls between them and the Void are thin and easily broken: remote, bleak places with a reputation for being haunted. From what Lars says it sounds like Bad Wolf Bay has always been one of these places. When Torchwood were messing about with that Void ship two years ago, those weak places split open and a lot of them, Bad Wolf Bay included, became full blown rifts. Not the best thing to have on your doorstep. But then I closed them." He said quietly, without looking at her.

"Yes, I know," she said firmly. "You closed all of them. You had to. Hey, look at me." She took hold of his chin and tilted his face towards hers. "It's ok."

He looked into her eyes; they were so full of trust and love. He had been thinking of that awful moment when the power of the supernova had abruptly run out and he'd been cut off from Rose halfway through the most important sentence he'd ever tried to say. It was still painful to think about. It wasn't how he'd wanted to leave things between them. He kissed her again, quite roughly this time, as if he were claiming her in some way. She returned the kiss just as forcefully, and got so carried away that she ended up biting his bottom lip. He gave a surprised little yelp and pulled back.

"Sorry!" said Rose.

The Doctor just laughed. "Easy, tiger!" he said, his eyes twinkling. He reached up to stroke her face and she closed her eyes, took his hand in hers and pressed her face against his palm. They stood like that for a second or two, and then she kissed his hand gently and let go.

"So, these things: they came from the Void?" said Rose. "That's not good."

"Nope, not good at all. The Eternals cast too many foul, demonic things out into the Howling: they used it like a cosmic rubbish dump. Most of the things they sent there were destroyed. The rest...well, if it could, the Void absorbed them. It's always been hungry. But what with these language problems I don't know how I'll be able to work out what these 'dark things' are." He sighed, frustrated and annoyed. He wasn't used to struggling to communicate, it was taking it out of him.

"You miss the TARDIS," said Rose quietly. It was a statement rather than a question.

"It wasn't the TARDIS that translated for me, Rose. It was just something I could do. And while you were travelling with me, the TARDIS channelled that ability into you as well. Guess that part of me is gone now. Ah well, never mind! I still know the universal language."

"What's that?" said Rose, laughing despite herself.

He leant in and kissed her.

"Oh! That language," she said. "Yeah, I can speak that too." She pulled him toward her and kissed him in a sensuous, teasing way, running her tongue delicately along the underside of his top lip, which caught him completely off guard. He shivered and gave a little moan, then ran his hands down her body until he reached her hips, and pulled her against him. Then he realised what he was doing and stepped back, embarrassed. She laughed and turned to go back into the bedroom, leaving the Doctor looking stunned and flustered. He ran two hands through his hair, shook his head disbelievingly and followed her.

As they walked back into the bedroom they surprised Jackie and Lars who were lying on the bed, sharing a glass of beer and laughing. When she saw them, Jackie leapt up, flustered.

"Oh, it's you. Lars was just telling me a funny story."

Rose lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? Would my dad find it funny too, do you reckon?"

Lars looked alarmed and stood up. "Er, I was just leaving. I hope you all have good night's sleep." He left the room hurriedly.

Rose groaned and rubbed her face, clearly exhausted. The Doctor's heart went out to her and he instinctively reached out to take her in his arms. But as he moved towards her, Jackie glared at him.

"Oi! Will you bugger off for a minute? I'd like to get ready for bed, if you don't mind."

"Oh, yes. Right, sorry," he said awkwardly. He stepped out onto the landing and leant on the rails, looking down into the dark, gloomy bar area below. A couple of minutes later he heard the door behind him open, and Rose slipped out. He turned to greet her, and then froze, the words he'd been about to say dying on his lips. She had on the long, pink T-shirt top she'd been wearing under her dark blue jacket, and nothing else. He just stared at her, unable to form words, his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Just going to the loo," she said to him with a cheeky grin. She walked past him and he turned and stared helplessly after her as she walked towards the bathroom door.

Untucked, the T-shirt was like a very short mini dress and was just about long enough to cover her bottom, but only barely. It was fairly tight, and left virtually nothing to the imagination. Her legs looked incredible: long, smooth and slim. He followed her with his eyes until she disappeared into the bathroom.

Rose closed the bathroom door behind her and then leaned against it. She was blushing hotly and had to fan herself with one hand just to cool down. Part of her couldn't believe she'd just done that. She laughed, remembering the stunned look on his face. On the TARDIS he'd never seen her anything other than fully dressed: he'd never even gone into her bedroom.

She groaned, remembering that they had to somehow share a room with her Mum tonight. She didn't know how she was going to stand it. She suddenly felt guilty for teasing the Doctor like that. It was going to be a really long night for both of them.

When she went back into their bedroom, her mum was snoring gently. She was lying on her right hand side with her face turned to the wall. The Doctor was stretched out on a couple of blankets in the far corner, fully clothed. His eyes were closed, but as she passed him on her way to the bed she caught him peeking, and she gave him a little wink. He grinned.

She clambered into the high, iron framed double bed. Its springs were old and they groaned and creaked loudly as she settled herself in, waking Jackie up.

"Whussa'?" she said sleepily, and then rolled over again. Rose had a brief blanket tug-of-war with her half-asleep mum, finally pulling enough free to cover herself. Jackie began to snore again. Rose closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but despite her tiredness her mind was wide-awake. All her nerves were on edge: certain ones more than others. She gave a tiny, but audible groan of frustration, and was pleased when she heard an answering sigh from the far corner of the room. She smiled in the darkness.

She'd spent so long analysing his every gesture when they were travelling together; searching everything he did for a sign that he felt the same way as she did. Occasionally, she'd glimpse something, just barely, but he'd been so good at keeping his feelings under wraps that she'd never been completely sure.

That's why she'd had such trouble getting the words out that time in Bad Wolf Bay. She'd been so worried he wouldn't say them back. But now she knew for sure: he loved her, and what's more, he wanted her...

And with that comforting thought, she was finally able to drift off to sleep.


	3. The Oncoming Storm

Rose yawned, stretched and sat up. She opened her eyes and for a second she couldn't remember where she was. Confused, she looked around at the shabby little wooden floored room. It was gloomy, but dimly lit by the dawn light that filtered through the small, grubby window in the corner. Then she saw him, and remembered.

She felt such an intense jolt of happiness that it was almost painful. She couldn't believe it: her Doctor, he was here, really here. It wasn't a dream. She got out of bed, taking care not to disturb her mum (who was still snoring), and went to kneel beside him.

He was fast asleep on the floor, tangled in a nest of blankets. He'd taken his blue suit jacket off and draped it over a nearby chair, but otherwise he was still fully clothed. She'd only ever seen him sleep once, at Christmas time just after he'd regenerated. But he'd been new to her then, unfamiliar, and she hadn't really known how she'd felt about this Doctor. But now she did, and she looked at him properly. The cumulative effects of nine hundred years of memories were smoothed away by sleep, and he looked so calm and peaceful.

Her heart clenched with love and tenderness, and she had to fight the urge to wake him up with a kiss, but he'd been through a lot recently, so she reluctantly decided to let him sleep.

She slipped out of the bedroom quietly, went into the bathroom and filled the tub with hot water. There was a small cupboard in the corner and after rooting around for a second or two she managed to find a towel. It wasn't very soft, but it was large and seemed to be fairly clean. There was a bar of soap next to the hand basin and she grabbed it, wishing she had something better, but it would do.

She put the towel on the floor beside the bath, peeled off her pink T-shirt and stepped into the water. It was deliciously hot and she eased herself in slowly, then lay back. After a while, she stopped noticing the slightly odd smell of the water and began to enjoy herself, running the soap over the contours of her submerged body.

Then, suddenly, the door opened, almost giving her a heart attack. She'd completely forgotten to lock it. She yelled, swore and dropped the soap. She was glad the water was so dark; it hid her lower half at least. Rose instinctively wrapped her hands around her chest, then laughed when she realised who it was. The Doctor was standing in the doorway looking mortified, but despite that he didn't seem to be able to stop staring at her. Then he realised what he was doing and looked away, his face flushed.

"Rose, I'm so sorry," he said.

"Don't be daft!" she replied. "But at least shut the door, I don't want Lars wandering in."

He turned to go out again.

"No, I…er…I didn't mean you should leave," she said, not quite looking at him. Then she glanced in his direction to see the effect of her words.

He looked her directly in the eyes, a deep, searching look that made her melt inside, and made her feel somehow even more naked than she already was. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, then locked it. She blushed.

He wasn't really sure that he should be doing this. He wanted to, but for a long time he'd forced himself to deny that he felt anything sexual for Rose. At first, he'd insisted to himself that they were just friends, and later on, when that became impossible, that he did love her, but that his love for her wasn't physical. But he'd always known that wasn't really true. He'd always felt an ache of desire whenever she'd walked past him in the TARDIS and he'd smelled the sweet, coconut scent of her hair, or when she'd hugged him after some kind of life-threatening adventure and she'd press against him so that he could feel every curve and contour of her slender body against his. Eventually he'd stopped lying to himself, but he'd made a promise that he would never let his true feelings show.

But that was then. He'd had to fight all of his longing, there had been no other option, and it would have been unfair on Rose if he hadn't. He'd been a Time Lord, with everything that came with that: the physical differences, his long lifespan, not to mention his changeable nature. But none of that mattered anymore. He walked over to the side of the bath, and knelt beside her.

They froze for a second and just looked at each other. Rose's arms were still wrapped around herself, hiding her breasts. She felt exposed, and it although it excited her it also made her feel a bit strange. She'd not expected that the first time that the Doctor would see her naked would be in a dilapidated old bathroom above a bar in a one-horse Norwegian town. But she saw the desire in his eyes, a need that both of them had denied for far too long. It sent an answering shiver of longing up her spine and she put aside her doubts and leant across and kissed him.

His hands went to the back of her head and tangled in her wet hair, pulling her closer toward him so that she ended up pressed against the side of the bath, sending a small tidal wave of water sloshing over the edge. She left one arm across her chest, not quite ready to show herself to him, and flung her spare arm around his shoulders. Their kisses were hungry, urgent and fierce. Everything that had been bottled up for so long was now set free and it was as intense and explosive as a nuclear reaction.

He broke the kiss and stood up. She looked up at him questioningly, then realised what he was planning to do. He leant down and put his arm around her, ignoring the water that was soaking into his dark red T-shirt. He slid his other arm under her knees and was about to lift her clear of the bath, but just before he could there was a bang on the door. He flinched in surprise and let go.

Someone banged on the door again, and then rattled the handle insistently.

"Oi! Are you two in there?" said Jackie.

Rose gasped in fury and shouted "Mum!" at the top of her voice.

But Jackie sounded equally angry.

"Rose Marion Tyler, you get out here right now! I want a word with you, young lady."

Rose knew that tone; it was anger mixed with worry. It was the kind of tone her mum had used on her when she was little and she'd wandered off in a crowded supermarket or something. Rose looked at the Doctor, he was drenched in bathwater: even his hair was wet. It was obvious what they'd just been about to do.

"Hold on a minute. I'm coming", said Rose. The Doctor turned away as she got out of the bath and wrapped herself in the (now slightly soggy) towel. She picked up her pink top, then walked over and gave the Doctor a gentle kiss on the lips, full of love and assurance. He looked at her almost apologetically. His hair was plastered to his forehead, and he looked so bedraggled and sweet that she couldn't help kissing him again.

"We got a bit carried away there, didn't we?" she whispered with a smile. They looked into each other's eyes and she saw such a depth of love there that she wondered how she'd ever managed to doubt the way he felt towards her. He must have been so good at hiding it.

"Rose," he whispered back, his voice low and husky. "I…."

He was clearly about to apologise. She put a finger on his lips to shush him, then ran a hand teasingly down his chest, stopping just below his belt-line. He gasped. She left her hand where it was, and squeezed him gently, then leant forward and put her lips to his ear.

"We'll finish this later, Doctor," she said in a deep, throaty whisper that sent a series of electric shocks shivering up his spine. He groaned.

There was another knock at the door

"Rose!" said her mum, frustrated. "Get out here, now!"

Rose sighed.

"Stay here a minute." She said to the Doctor, who nodded. He didn't need telling. He was very obviously aroused, and really didn't want to see Jackie in his current state, or at all, for that matter. She sounded really angry. For a second, it crossed his mind that 'the oncoming storm' might be a better nickname for her, rather than him.

Rose opened the door and slipped out, closing it behind her. Her mum was standing in the corridor, her arms folded.

"What?" said Rose,

"I think you know what. Is he in there?" snapped Jackie.

"What if he is?" said Rose, furiously. "I'm a grown woman!"

"It's not about how old you are!" said Jackie, exasperated, then sighed. "Come in here with me. I need to talk to you."

They went back into the bedroom and Jackie sat down. Rose pulled her clothes on roughly, still fuming.

"Sit down here, next to me," said Jackie, patting the bed. Rose glared at her, but sat down anyway.

"Rose, listen to me. I know what you're going through at the moment. Believe me, I've been there. Thinking I'd lost someone forever, thinking about him night and day. Then, somehow, impossibly I got him back."

"What? Oh, yeah, sorry. You mean Dad, right?"

"Yes, of course I mean your dad! And in case you've forgotten it wasn't exactly a walk in the park getting back together with him. He'd been used to an alternate version of me, and I wasn't the same. Neither was he, for that matter. We managed to work things out, but it took time. We didn't rush things."

"Look, Mum, I get what you're saying, I really do, but the Doctor's no different to how he used to be. He's got the same memories, he remembers the day we met, every single time we've had chips (and where) not to mention everything else we've ever done together. I have a history with him. You and my Dad have histories with each other too, but different each others, if that even makes sense."

Rose was beginning to think that a new kind of language needed to be invented to deal with the complexities of parallel universe relationships.

"Rose, that's not my point. That man in there is all you've thought about for what, four years? And since you were separated from him you've done nothing but plan ways to get back to him, despite the fact he said it was impossible. Every time you heard that Torchwood had scavenged some new piece of alien technology, you'd be there at the Institute before they'd even got back with it, wanting to see if it was something you could use to cross the Void."

"Yeah, so? That was my job, in case you don't remember."

"Look, the point I'm trying to make, if you'll just listen, is that you've been focussed on the Doctor for so long that its bound to be intense at the moment, but take it from me, it'll be better in the long run if you don't rush things. I just want you to be happy, you know that. I know how much you love him. But most importantly, after everything you've been through together, do you really want your first time with him to be in that horrible, clammy old bathroom?"

Rose laughed, and turned to hug her mum.

"You're right, as usual," said Rose "It's just…well, it's hard."

"Is that what you said to him?" said Jackie, with a chuckle.

"MUM!" shouted Rose, embarrassed, and gave her a shove.

"Oh come on, it's only me. You used to talk to me about your boyfriends all the time."

"Yeah, but that was different," said Rose, laughing.

The door opened a tiny crack, and the Doctor's head appeared.

"Er, is everything alright?" he asked, looking a bit worried.

Rose chuckled. "Yeah, it's fine. Me and my mum were just having a bit of a chat. You can come in now."

He sidled in and shot Jackie a brief, apologetic smile, then went over to where he'd left his suit jacket, and slipped it on. A second or two later, Lars walked in.

"Ah, hello to you all!" he said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, like a log, thanks." Said Jackie. Lars looked puzzled.

"A…log?" he said, sounding confused.

"She means yes," said Rose. "Thanks Lars, we were very comfortable."

"Ah, good!" said Lars with a smile, which faded very quickly, leaving him looking very serious. "I am sorry, but I must ask you to leave. It is daytime now, and we had agreed you would go at first light."

He smiled again, but nervously. He was avoiding looking at the Doctor.

"Lars," said the Doctor urgently. "These things you talked about last night, the Halvmørke. I might be able to help."

Rose cleared her throat pointedly.

"Sorry, I meant 'we'…we might be able to help, if you could just tell us a bit more about them."

Lars looked worried.

"No, I cannot. I have already told you as much as I can. You must go, before…"

"Before what?" asked Rose.

There was a bang on the door downstairs, then another. Lars looked terrified.

"Please, I promised them that you would be gone by now. You must leave."

"Why?" asked the Doctor, grabbing him by the shoulders. "What's going on?"

From downstairs came the sound of Norwegian voices raised in anger. Lars ran out of the room, and after a minute or two they heard him open the front door. Although they couldn't make out his words (and wouldn't have been able to understand them even if they could) his tone was conciliatory and soothing, but it didn't seem to work.

There was the sound of scuffling and shouting, and then the noise of running footsteps heading upstairs. A second later a whole host of people burst into the room. Rose recognised the suspicious lady from the night before. There were also others that had been in the bar, as well as a few people she'd not seen before. She went to stand beside the Doctor, but he moved slightly in front of her instead, putting himself between her and the hostile crowd.

The townspeople stood in the doorway, looking angry.

"Komme seg ut av her!" shouted one of them, an older man with trembling hands and an expression of fear.

"Forlate byen vår, vaer så snill," said another man. He was younger and looked even more worried than the old man.

Then, suddenly, the crowd surged forward. The Doctor reacted instantly, stepping back in a half-crouch, his arms upraised, palms facing out.

"Wait. WAIT! Listen to me, all of you. LISTEN! We can help. I know what's been attacking your town, I think so anyway, and I can help if you'll let me."

They stopped, frozen in place by his intense, urgent tone of voice, but they clearly didn't understand him. They just looked at each other, confused. A moment later there was a brief argumentative exchange towards the back of the crowd, and then a middle-aged man was pushed forward, looking very reluctant.

"Hello," he said, in clear but very heavily accented English. "I am Tomas. I run the school in the village. I teach English, along with other things."

"He's not done a very good job of it," whispered Jackie under her breath to Rose. "No one in this town apart from him and Lars speak a bloody word of English from what I can tell."

"Right, great!" said the Doctor to Tomas. "That's brilliant. Can you translate for me, please?"

Tomas nodded. "I will try," he said solemnly.

The Doctor turned to address the crowd.

"We can help you. The things you're afraid of shouldn't be here in this world, or even in this Universe. They come from a place called the Void, and they belong outside existence…"

He paused, aware that Tomas seemed to be struggling. It wasn't the easiest sentence to translate.

The buzz of conversation from the crowd rose a few notches, and the Doctor had to speak louder to be heard.

"I need to speak to someone who's seen these things. Anyone?" Tomas relayed his request to the assembled crowd. Eventually, a teenaged boy stepped forward, looking nervous.

"You," said the Doctor, "what's your name?" Tomas translated for him.

"Eirik," said the boy, quietly.

"Good man, Eirik." He said, walking over and slinging a friendly arm around his shoulders. "Now, if you lot'll just give us a minute, I'm sure I can get some answers for you. Go on, shoo." He waved his hands at them and they didn't need a translator to tell them what he meant. Slowly and reluctantly, with a great deal of muttering, they filed out. Lars was the last to leave, looking back at the Doctor with worry etched into his face.

"Mr Smith, please, Eirik is my cousin, do not ask too much of him. He has been very afraid ever since he saw the Halvmørke."

The Doctor looked at Lars for a moment, then nodded. Lars gave him a brief, tight smile in return, and then left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

The Doctor still had his arm around Eirik. He gave him a friendly squeeze, and grinned. Eirik smiled back.

"You just take a seat over there, young fella-me-lad," he said, manoeuvring him towards one of the chairs in the corner. The Doctor pulled the other one over and spun it around, then sat on it backwards, so that he ended up straddling the seat. He leaned his elbows on the back of the chair and propped his chin in his hands, looking at Eirik. Tomas came to stand just behind him.

"Eirik," said the Doctor gently. "Will you answer a few questions for me?"

Behind him, Tomas translated. Eirik nodded his head.

"These things, the Halvmørke. Your cousin Lars says you saw them come from the sky near Bad Wolf Bay. What did they look like?"

He waited a second for Tomas to translate, and then Eirik responded slowly, pausing every so often. After he'd finished speaking, Tomas thought for a minute, clearly struggling to translate what Eirik had said. Then he turned to the Doctor.

"He says that they did not have a shape, that they didn't look like anything. He insists that they were invisible but that nevertheless he could still see them. It was like…ach…it is hard to describe, as if he could see them using some other sense, not sight exactly. But what was strange is that even though they were invisible they cast shadows behind them, and that the shadows were horrible, they were shapes that he had never seen before: insane, terrible shapes."

"Tomas, tell me, what have these things been doing since they appeared?" asked the Doctor. "Why are you all so afraid of them?"

"I've never seen one myself," said Tomas, picking his words slowly. "It seems that they can't survive for long in the shape that Eirik saw them in. Indeed, no one else has ever seen them in that form. We are fairly sure that they make their home in other bodies, infesting the minds of other creatures. We have always had many wolves around here, they live in the deepest parts of the pine forest that surrounds our town and so long as we left them alone, they always kept away from us. But not anymore. We think that they have been possessed, taken over by these creatures from…what did you call it? Ah yes…the Void."

"Why do you think that the Halvmørke are in the wolves?" asked Rose.

"After Eirik saw the sky break open, the wolves started to come to the village at night, prowling around the buildings, growling, trying to get in. We thought they were maybe just hungry, it had been a hard winter and prey had been scarce. So one day, several of us formed a hunting party and took our guns out into the forest to thin their numbers a bit. It is what we have always done when they have come too close to the town."

"Go on," said the Doctor. He was leaning forward, fascinated, but Rose could hear something else in his voice as well: he sounded stern, and serious. It as a tone that only severe danger brought out in him. Small threats and minor adventures (encounters with immoral wimple-wearing nurse cats for example) just made him excitable and energetic, he loved it. But faced with serious, bad trouble, his humour was the first thing to go. Rose looked at his face and saw the way his brow was furrowed. He looked grim, and worried. She began to feel a bit scared.

"We found a wolves' den about fifteen minutes walk from the village, but it was not normal. Usually wolves have clean dens, but this was horrible. There were…entrails…of dead animals everywhere, they had been torn to pieces and just left lying around the area. The ground was bloodstained, there were bones and pieces of fur scattered all around. Then, we heard a growl from behind us. Sigurd was the closest. He turned around just as the wolf leapt at him, and managed to bring his gun to his shoulder in time and shoot it. It fell at his feet, dead."

"Let me guess," said the Doctor quietly. "That wasn't the end of it."

"No," said Tomas. "Sigurd just stood there, looking down at the wolf with his back to us. We called his name, but he did not respond. Then, my friend Arne walked up to him and put his hand on Sigurd's shoulder, but as soon as he touched him, Sigurd span round, grabbed him by the neck and tore out his throat with his teeth, like an animal. His face was hideous, not human. Then he threw Arne to the ground and ran off into the forest. It was as if whatever had been in that wolf had leapt into him the moment that he killed it."

The Doctor rubbed a hand across the lower half of his face, then ran it round the back of his neck and through his hair. He looked very concerned indeed.

"Tomas, the thing that was inside that wolf. I know what it is, I know what the Halvmørke are."

"What are they?" said Rose, "Are they from some other planet, or something?"

"No. They're not life forms at all. Not as such," said the Doctor. "They're fragments of the Void, conscious beings made from Void energy. Basically, they're pure evil congealed into a sentient form. All they want to do is kill and destroy. They can only survive for a tiny amount of time in the state that Eirik saw them. They need a host in order to survive in this Universe and if possible they always infect the most destructive, fierce creatures available. In this case, it was the wolves that live nearby."

"Shame this happened in Norway really, and not London. There's no wolves there, and I don't reckon killer pigeons would have been that much of a problem!" said Jackie. Everyone just looked at her.

"Fine, sorry I spoke." She muttered.

"So how do we get rid of these things then?" asked Rose, ignoring her mum.

"That's just it. It's very hard, almost impossible." Said the Doctor. "Once they jump into a body, they're trapped there. They can only escape once that body dies. As soon as it does, they have only a minute or two to find another one, but they usually can. If another living thing killed their host, they can jump into it."

"But that means that we can't kill them, because if we do…" said Tomas.

"Then they'll just jump into whichever person did the killing, and they'll end up like Sigurd," said the Doctor, interrupting Tomas. Rose noticed that he'd moved into his tense, impatient phase, where he became irritated easily. "But if we could keep them from finding a new host, then the energy that they're made of would be destroyed, torn apart by gravity and this Universe's other natural forces, which don't exist in the Void. We'd need to trap them, somewhere remote…"

He jumped up, and stated to pace around the room, running his hands through his hair, thinking. The room was fairly small, and people had to keep moving out of his way as he strode about. Then, suddenly, his eyes lit up and he span round.

"Tomas, is there a cave, quarry, anything like that near here?" he said, urgently.

"Er, I am not sure. We have never ventured far into the forest. The last time anyone did was just over two years ago. You have heard of the mineral springs that supply our houses with hot water?" he asked.

Rose and Jackie nodded. The Doctor just looked impatient.

"What about them?" he said.

"Well, there are many such springs in the forest, secluded rock pools full of hot water. A developer came and looked at a few sites, interested in creating a spa resort. Some of our men got building jobs with the company. Work had been going on for about six months when the Halvmørke infested the wolves. Many of the workmen were killed. Others simply disappeared. But they'd already finished building the main part of the complex and several very large log cabins."

"Great!" said the Doctor, his face lighting up. "Yes, that's perfect! Fabulous!"

Tomas smiled.

"These cabins are made from whole tree trunks," Tomas continued. "Their doors have big bolts and are very sturdy. I imagine that even a wolf that has been infected by the Halvmørke could be trapped inside if we boarded up the windows. In fact, the cabins are very big. I believe all the wolves could easily fit inside, so long as no more than twenty have been infected, and I suspect the actual number is less than that, although I am not sure."

"Excellent!" said the Doctor, looking perky and excited again. He grabbed Rose's hand and squeezed it, then grinned. She smiled back, relieved to see that the grimness and worry had disappeared from his face.

"Tomas, we've got some work to do. Take Eirik and go downstairs. Explain the plan to the rest of the townspeople. Rose and I will go into the forest, but we'll need volunteers to come along and make one of the cabins wolf-proof. We'll need some long, heavy-duty nails, planks of wood: as much as possible. Can you sort that out?" Tomas nodded, and said something to Eirik in Norwegian. The boy got up, nodded stiffly to the Doctor, and followed Tomas out of the room.

"Oi, wait up," said Jackie. She turned to Rose, "I want to ask him if anyone in this dump of a town has a landline I could use. My mobile's still not got a signal. Your dad'll be going mad with worry."

She hurried out of the room after Tomas, leaving the Doctor and Rose alone. They looked at each other.

"Hello!" he said cheekily, his head tilted to one side. He grinned at her broadly.

"Hello back," she said with a smile. She moved over to him and he put his arms around her. She looked up into his eyes, taking a deep breath as she did. She loved those eyes, the humour in them, the knowledge. She reached up to brush back a bit of hair that was hanging down over his forehead, then closed her eyes and brushed her lips against his, amazed yet again that she was allowed to kiss him.

He kissed her back just as gently, stroking her hair, letting it run through his fingers. She moved slightly and trailed a feather-light sequence of kisses down his neck and across his throat. He shivered convulsively and pulled her closer.

"Rose," he whispered. She loved to hear him say her name. She kissed her way up the other side of his neck until she reached his ear, and then blew into it gently. He shivered and gave a little moan of longing, then shook his head, laughing.

"What?" she said, her head tilted to one side.

"You're going to get us in trouble again!" he said with a smile, pulling away slightly. He raised his eyebrows and jerked his head in the direction of the door. "Your mum could walk in any minute."

Rose just growled, frustrated that her prey was getting away, and grasped the lapels of his blue suit jacket firmly, tugging him toward her. She pressed her hips against his, pleased when she felt proof of how much she turned him on.

"Mmm, Doctor. What have we here?" she said with a wicked, sexy smile.

He exhaled sharply and then took a deep, shaky breath.

"Oh god," he said and pushed against her, unable to help himself. He leaned forward and kissed her, much less gently this time. She kissed him back, snaking her tongue into his mouth. He met her tongue with his own, kissing her deeply and passionately, until finally she was forced to pull back, gasping for breath. Then she raked her fingernails down his back and he made a savage, almost animal sound in response. He pushed her up against the wall. Every part of his body was pressed against her; she could feel how hard he was. Without breaking the kiss, she slid a hand down towards the waistband of his trousers…but then stopped, remembering the conversation she'd had with her mum earlier.

She pulled away slightly, and looked up at him. Despite his arousal, he was still completely himself. His eyes were sharp and clear, without the glazed, single-minded expression that a typical guy would have on his face at a time like this. An expression she probably had on her face right now, she thought, and smiled.

"Got carried away again, didn't we?" she said, closing her eyes and leaning against his chest.

The Doctor sighed, and nodded. "Rose, I couldn't help overhearing what your mum said earlier. The walls in here are pretty thin. And she's right, for once. We should at least try and take things slowly...although that's easier said than done," he said, with a grin.

"Yeah," said Rose, then gave a very sexy little moan of frustration, and bit her lip.

He wrapped his arms around her, kissed the top of her head gently, then closed his eyes. She pressed her face into his chest, and for several long minutes they stayed frozen in place, holding each other, all too aware that their brief moment of peace wouldn't last.


	4. Rise of the Preachers

"Can you believe it?" said Jackie loudly as she came back into the room. "None of them have got a phone, not even a landline."

Rose groaned, and reluctantly extricated herself from the Doctor's arms.

"Preachers?" she said.

"Yeah," said Jackie. "Can you believe it's spread all the way here?"

The Doctor looked from Rose to Jackie, clearly baffled.

"Preachers?" he asked.

"It was that organisation that Ricky founded," said Rose. "The one that was fighting Cybus Industries, trying to destroy the EarPods."

"Yes, I know. I remember," said the Doctor with just a hint of impatience in his voice. "But why would the people of Nordstrøm be Preachers? And why does this world even need Preachers anymore? Lumic was defeated."

"It's a powerful, high profile movement now, rather than an underground organisation," explained Rose. "That whole business with the Cybermen, well, it could hardly be kept under wraps. Cybus was one of the biggest companies in the world. They had a virtual monopoly on computers, mobile technology and cybernetics. Not to mention other things like housing, construction, all that kind of thing. Since they collapsed, no one's really stepped up to fill the hole they left. That's why Mum's had such a problem with her phone since we got here. There's only one mobile service provider left now: Carillon, and it's rubbish. I don't reckon they'll last much longer."

"Why's that?" asked the Doctor.

"Cause they're not making any money. Hardly anyone's got a mobile phone these days, not since the Preacher movement took off. If you call yourself a Preacher, it means you reject all communications technology, phones, the Internet, anything remotely cybernetic. People just don't trust that kind of stuff anymore. If a Preacher sees someone with a mobile, they'll knock it out of their hand."

"But this world was about ten years ahead of yours!" said the Doctor. "It's madness to go backwards. Cybus Industries was destroyed, there's no reason to be afraid."

"You don't need to tell us that!" said Rose. "It's stupid, I know. But that's just what people are like. The papers don't help, stirring it up, creating technology scares. Last time they did that, it was microwaves: 'Are They Controlling Your Mind?" the headline said. Now almost everyone's chucked theirs out."

The Doctor just tutted and sighed.

"It's made things really tough for Torchwood," Rose continued. "They've had to go completely underground, and the Preachers are determined to flush them out. They've made it public knowledge that it was Torchwood who supplied Lumic with the Cybermen technology, and everyone's against them. The government, well, they'll always pander to popular opinion, won't they? They've disowned Torchwood and declared them a 'cyber-terrorist organisation.' The main Preacher newspaper has even offered a reward to anyone who can give them information that leads to their capture."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, looking stunned.

"Why didn't you mention any of this?" he said.

"Well, obviously I was planning to, but we've been a bit busy, haven't we?" said Rose, coyly, and was pleased when the Doctor blushed.

"Yeah, well….yeah." He said, and then cleared his throat. "Anyway, we've got other fish to fry at the moment! Well, when I say fish, I mean Halvmørke. And when I say fry, I mean 'trap in a log cabin.' But I'm sure you get my drift."

"Listen, you two," said Jackie. "Lars has offered to drive me over to Ulven. Apparently there's not been a scare about cars yet, although it's probably just a matter of time. There's a telegraph station there which I can use to get a message to Pete."

"A telegraph station?" said the Doctor disbelievingly. "You've got to be kidding! What's next, semaphore?"

"Well, it's funny you should mention that actually…" Jackie began.

The Doctor just held up his hand. "I really, really don't want to know," he said. "This world's gone mad!"

"Yeah," said Rose, "well, maybe you should have done a bit of research before dumping us here then." She sounded annoyed.

"That wasn't me, Rose," said the Doctor. "Well, it was me, the other me. But not this me."

"I know, sorry. I just forget sometimes," she said. "Anyway, you're the same, more or less, so it's just as satisfying to tell you off."

She smiled and gave him a playful little punch on the arm. He grinned, and retaliated by poking her in the side, just beneath the ribs. It was her most ticklish spot and she squealed and twisted away, laughing.

"Right, I'd better go," said Jackie. "I'll send a telegraph to your dad, tell him we're ok. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Rose nodded, and gave her a hug.

"Be careful, ok?" she said to her mum. "You know what Preachers can be like, they're a bit unpredictable."

"Yeah, let's just hope no one's decided that the telegraph is potentially dangerous cybernetic brainwashing technology," said the Doctor. "You might end up having to send a carrier pigeon instead."

"I honestly wouldn't be that surprised." Said Rose, quietly.

"Oh come on!" said the Doctor. "Surely it's not that bad, is it?"

Rose turned to him. "They reckon the Preachers could be in power within a year. They've already formed a political party, and they're putting a candidate forward for the next British presidential election. They're even using the same symbol as Jake and Ricky's original group: that 'P' with a circle round it. But they're nothing to do with them, well, not really. It's complicated."

"And it's not just Britain either," said Jackie, interrupting. "There are Preacher splinter groups in loads of other countries too: New Germany, Czechoslovenia...Norway's just one of them. It's spreading like wildfire. The whole world's sliding back into the Dark Ages. There's no satellite TV anymore, it's awful. We've only got five channels now, there's never anything on. Not that it matters anyway, this stupid world doesn't have any soap operas, can you believe that? Not even Hollyoaks!"

"Oh Jackie, I'm so sorry," said the Doctor. "How are you coping without Eastenders?"

Jackie looked stricken, and for a second she seemed about to cry. Rose elbowed the Doctor in the ribs, hard.

"Don't say the 'E' word!" she whispered. "She's been pining for it ever since we ended up here."

"Mum," she said aloud, "shouldn't you be heading off now? You don't want to keep Lars waiting. He might change his mind about giving you a lift."

Jackie nodded.

"Well, you two just be careful, ok?" she said. "And no funny business while I'm not around to keep an eye on you. You know my opinion about that. You should take it slow, like me and Pete did."

With that, she left the room.

The Doctor cleared his throat and looked down at his feet. Rose was staring up at the ceiling. Jackie had clearly never heard of the term 'reverse psychology.' Now that she'd brought it up, 'funny business' was all either of them could think about. They were suddenly very aware that they were alone together, in a bedroom, and that Jackie was going to be fifteen kilometres away for the next couple of hours at least.

"Maybe we should…" began Rose, then stopped.

"What?" said the Doctor, turning to look at her. As soon as he did, he remembered the scene earlier when he'd surprised her in the bathroom, how beautiful she'd looked, how perfect and flawless her skin had been. He shut his eyes for a second trying to make the rogue thoughts go away. "Slowly," he thought to himself. "We need to take this slowly."

"We should go and check on Tomas, see how he's getting on…" said Rose

"Oh right, yeah…of course," said the Doctor, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice, but he completely failed. Rose smiled.

"Although…" she said, coyly, and walked over to him slowly until they were almost touching. The inch or two of empty air between them seemed to sizzle with tension, and it was all the Doctor could do not to step forward and close the gap.

"Although what?" murmured the Doctor. Rose cocked her head to one side, looking up at him with a very obvious expression on her face. She licked her lips teasingly.

"Rose," he said, in a low voice, warning her.

She saw that he was serious, and groaned. She ran a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ears: something she always did when she was frustrated.

"Ok, ok," she said. "It's just…" she reached out and touched his chest lightly. He looked at her, his eyes blazing, about to lose control. They were aching for each other. But they both knew that now wasn't the time. Rose broke their gaze, and sighed.

"Come on, let's go downstairs and see what's happening," she said, taking his hand.

They left the bedroom and headed along the corridor to the little flight of stairs at the far end which led down to the bar area. Several of the townspeople were still there: Eirik, Tomas and a couple of slightly older men who were grey haired, wiry and tanned. They were wearing overalls and tool belts and were clearly workmen by trade. One stepped forward.

"Hallo. Jeg heter Hans Thorsson." He shook the Doctor's hand, then gave a little bow in Rose's direction.

The other man stepped forward, and introduced himself as Rolf Pedersson.

"I have told them what you told me, Mr Smith. About the Halvmørke. They volunteered to help trap them." Said Tomas.

Hans nodded, then launched into a stream of words in Norwegian. Tomas translated for him.

"He said his daughter was killed by the Halvmørke three weeks ago, just outside the village. She was only twenty-one, she'd just got married and she was pregnant with his grandchild. He wants to help destroy them."

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor, gazing at Hans with deep sadness etched into his face. "I'm so sorry."

Tomas translated, but he didn't really need to. The Doctor's tone said it all. Hans gave him a brief nod; his eyes shining with unshed tears, and then turned away.

Rose walked over to one of the bar tables. Heavy wooden planks had been piled on it, along with some long, thick nails and a few hammers. There were also six shotguns propped against the table, their barrels oiled and gleaming.

"There's no point taking them," said the Doctor, pointing at the guns. "We can't use them. We need to take the infected wolves alive. If we kill one, we'll set the Halvmørke inside it loose and it'll infect one of us. And if one infests your mind, you're lost. The only release is death."

Tomas translated this, and everyone looked grave. Then Rolf spoke up.

"Rolf asks, how do you propose to trap them?" said Tomas. "They are powerful and fierce, much stronger than ordinary wolves. And they're fast too."

"We'll need to lure them into one of the cabins and seal them inside," said the Doctor. "They'll chase anything that runs from them. Their only urge is to kill and destroy. They're pieces of the Void, made from completely negative energy: pure evil, in other words."

"What do you mean, chase?" said Rose. "Is someone going to have act as the bait?"

"Yes," said the Doctor grimly. "Me."

"No!" said Rose. "No way. That's not going to happen." She took his arm and pulled him away from the others, into a corner.

"You can't," she said, clearly upset. "If they catch you…Doctor, I can't lose you again. You can't regenerate anymore, remember?"

"Course I remember! Anyway, they won't catch me," he said with a smile. "You're looking at the Gallifreyan 100 years-and-under sprinting champion. Admittedly, that was a while ago, but I've had a lot of practice running away from things since then. If you can name it, I've run away from it. Daleks, Autons, Cybermen. I'm an expert."

"Yeah, well if you are, then so am I. And I'm going to help you trap the Halvmørke. Don't argue!" she said sharply, as he opened his mouth to protest. He looked concerned, but nodded.

They went back over to the others. The Doctor filled them in on the rest of the plan, and Tomas translated. They were to identify the largest, most sturdy log cabin in the forest, then board up all but one of its windows. Then, before it went dark he and Rose would go to the Halvmørke nest and disturb them. They didn't like the light, and would be slower and less responsive, hopefully allowing them to get a head start. They'd lead them through the forest and run into the cabin, then once the Halvmørke entered, Tomas would bar the cabin door behind them, the Doctor and Rose would escape through the window and Rolf and Hans would board it up as quickly as possible.

Tomas finished translating all this a few moments afterward, and the Doctor looked from face to face, hoping that the translation had been accurate. It was a risky, dangerous plan and would take a great deal of coordination to pull it off, as well as a great deal of luck.

He wished he could just leave Rose here until it was all over, he just wanted her to be safe. But that wasn't how it worked, he knew that. He remembered that time in Torchwood Tower when he'd tried to use the Transmat device to transport her to safety, and how she's just teleported back a few seconds later, absolutely furious. But the end result had been the same. Thinking about it made him remember how devastated he'd felt when the rift sealed up, trapping Rose in this alternate Universe. He'd never felt so much pain in his life, not even at the end of the Time War.

He turned round suddenly, and in front of everyone he wrapped his arms around Rose and kissed her. The others just coughed and looked away as she kissed him back just as passionately. Then they pulled apart. The Doctor turned to the others, looking a bit surprised, as if he'd forgotten they were even there.

"Sorry about that," he said to the room at large. Rose was incapable of speech and just stood there looking wobbly and stunned.

"Shall we go?" said the Doctor. Rolf and Hans nodded and picked up the heavy wooden planks, and attached the hammers to their tool belts. Tomas took hold of one of the shotguns. The Doctor walked over to him, put a hand on his arm, and shook his head.

Tomas looked at him pleadingly.

"We could at least take one?" he asked. "It will make everyone feel safer, even though we cannot use it." The Doctor stared at him for a moment, looking inscrutable. Then, reluctantly, he nodded.

"Fine," he said. "But if it comes down to it, you'd be better to turn that on yourself, rather than on one of those wolves."

Tomas gulped, and looked terrified.

They left the bar and were instantly confronted with an ancient, rusty pickup truck. It had 'Rolf Pederssen: Bygningen Leverer' painted in shaky letters down one side.

Rolf turned to the Doctor and said something.

"He says that he is sorry, but two people must sit in the bed of the truck. There is not enough room inside," translated Tomas.

"No problem," said the Doctor. "Rose and I don't mind sitting in the back."

"Yeah," said Rose under her breath, so that only the Doctor could hear. "It's just a shame it's not an actual bed." He blushed.

They climbed in the back and tried to make themselves comfortable amongst the tins of paint, bits of wood and other assorted debris. Tomas, Rolf and Hans squeezed themselves into the cabin and they set off along the potholed main street. The van jerked and pitched from side to side like a ship in a storm, throwing the Doctor and Rose against one another.

The Doctor put his arm around Rose, pulling her closer. She pressed against his side, wedging herself between him and the planks of wood. He could feel the heat of her against his body, and he gritted his teeth. Now really wasn't the time to be thinking thoughts like that. They needed to concentrate on the task in hand. But he couldn't help it. She was so warm and soft, and….

"So what was that all about?" said Rose, interrupting his train of thought.

"What?" he said, looking a bit flustered.

"That kiss a minute ago. Not that I'm complaining, of course. But it was a bit unexpected!" she laughed.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry," he replied, not looking at her. "I was just thinking about stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" she asked, softly.

"Just…stuff. You know," he said, looking down at her.

"Yeah. I think I do," she said.

She turned and stroked his face with one hand, then very lightly brushed her thumb over his lips, making him shiver with desire. Then Rose leant across and kissed him, and instinctively the Doctor shifted so that he could put both arms around her. At the same moment, the truck went over a big pothole. The Doctor lost his balance and slid down, accidentally pulling Rose on top of him. They froze when they realised the position they'd got themselves into, but she made no attempt to move. She just smiled at him, and then suddenly they were kissing again, more heatedly this time.

By now, the truck had left the village and was plunging headlong down a heavily rutted forestry track. It was bouncing around quite a lot, but they didn't notice the bumps…they were too busy with more important things. Even the Halvmørke were forgotten, just for a while.


	5. Preparations

The truck sped through the pine forest with Rose and the Doctor in the back. Rose was on top, with her knees on either side of his waist and her mouth on his. Her hands were in his hair and she was running her fingers through it as she kissed him, pulling on it gently. Every so often the truck went over a pothole, making Rose bounce up and down on a very sensitive area. Each time it happened the Doctor had to break their kiss to moan, which Rose found almost unbearably sexy.

Unable to help himself, and equally unable to quite believe what he was doing, the Doctor moved his hands from Rose's hips and brought them up to cup her breasts through the soft material of her top. She gasped, and pulled back slightly in surprise.

"Rose, I'm so sorry," he said, looking horrified. "I didn't mean…I shouldn't have."

She didn't wait for him to finish; she just threw herself down on top of him, kissing him again and again with ravenous, furious intensity. Somewhere, faintly and far in the back of his mind, the sensible part of him was trying to assert some kind of control. But it was like trying to hold back a runaway train; he simply couldn't stop, they'd gone past the point of no return.

He ran his fingers lightly down Rose's sides, and then reached around to cup her bottom with both hands, pulling her against him. She moaned, and then suddenly slid to one side, unbalancing them both so that they rolled over. She pulled the Doctor on top of her and wrapped her legs around his waist, frustrated by the clothes that formed a barrier between them. Just before he leant forward to kiss her again, she saw the blurred shapes of tall pine trees behind and above him. Then his mouth found hers and she closed her eyes.

He ran an exploratory hand over her abdomen. Her top had ridden up, revealing an inch of creamy, bare skin which he gently caressed before slipping his hand underneath the hem of her T-shirt to stoke her stomach. She shuddered and moaned, then turned her attention to his neck, kissing her way up it until she finally reached his mouth again. He moved his hand slightly higher and traced a finger along the underside of her bra, then ran his hand around to her back and undid the clasp, making her gasp and arch her back involuntarily.

He was just about to move his hand again when there was an almighty screech of brakes. The truck jerked to a sudden stop and Doctor and Rose were flung against the side in a tumble of arms and legs.

"Ow," she said, sitting up and rubbing her neck. The Doctor winced and pulled a long splinter out of his hand. He'd ended up in the pile of wooden planks. He groaned.

They sat up and looked around. They were in a wide, gently sloping, bowl-shaped clearing surrounded on all sides by thick pine forest. Scattered around the clearing were a variety of sturdy, well made log cabins. They were large, made from interlocking tree trunks with inverted v-shaped roofs.

In the centre of the clearing, between the various cabins, was a curvilinear, medium sized rock pool, full of gently steaming water. You had to climb down a series of terraced steps to reach it and it seemed to be a natural feature, although it had clearly been sculpted and reshaped to make it larger and more aesthetically pleasing.

Behind the cabins, just beyond the edge of the clearing and dimly visible between the pine trees was a larger building. It was made of wooden planks, and seemed to be the reception centre. It wasn't finished, and had a sad, neglected look.

The truck door slammed, and Rolf, Hans and Tomas climbed out. Rose quickly refastened her bra, then raked her fingers though her hair hurriedly, trying to tidy herself up a bit. The Doctor leaned forward and ran his hand down her back, brushing her off. She was covered in flakes of rust and old paint. She looked at him and laughed. He looked very dishevelled and his hair was so full of brick dust that it had turned an orangey-red colour.

"Carrot top!" she said, then gave his head a vigorous rub to loosen the red dust. It cascaded into his lap and he chuckled.

"Hey, don't do that! I like it. I've never been ginger, always wanted to be, though." Then he looked thoughtful. "Hmm, guess I never will be now, will I?"

"There's always hair dye!" said Rose, laughing, then abruptly stopped when he looked like he was seriously considering the idea. "But don't. I like you the way you are."

He rewarded her for this a merry, cheeky grin and a peck on the lips.

Then, they heard someone clear their throat. They looked round. Tomas, Hans and Rolf were all standing by the side of the van, looking anxious and a bit annoyed.

"Sorry fellas!" said the Doctor, perkily. He jumped down from the back of the truck and turned to help Rose down. She stumbled a little and half fell, and he caught her in his arms. Their faces were only a couple of centimetres from each other, and they froze, looking into each other's eyes. They leaned forward…

"Mr Smith! Miss Tyler! Please!" said Tomas, exasperated. They both jumped, and pulled apart, mumbling vague apologies, although they continued to hold hands.

"So," said the Doctor. "These are the cabins. Great, they look good. Roomy. Let's go and take a look. Allons-y!" he beamed at the assembled Norwegians, and they smiled back tentatively.

They walked towards the centre of the clearing, skirting around the terraced sides of the steaming rock pool. Rose looked down at it as they passed. It was fed by a little stream that cascaded into it, creating a little waterfall, and little ferns grew in the clefts between the rocks. The water was a lovely clear blue colour; unlike the hot brown water she'd taken a bath in earlier. At the very edges of the pool there were pale yellow mineral deposits. The whole pool smelt interesting and tangy, like hot seawater.

The Doctor noticed her looking.

"Geothermal energy, that. There's loads of power in the Earth, about 13,000 zeptojoules to be precise. Enough to provide all the world's energy needs for several millennia if people would invest more in the technology. Guess there's not much chance of that in this world though. Not with these Preachers about."

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but Tomas got there first.

"Forgive me, Mr Smith, but I could not help overhearing. Geothermal energy is not something that the Preachers would be against. We are only averse to certain kinds of technology: wireless communications, weapons, electromatics, medical research, robotics, cybernetics, satellites and the internet. Basically, anything that can be adapted to kill or to control the mind. We cannot allow a repeat of the events that caused the creation of the Cybermen."

"But the Cybermen didn't survive. They malfunctioned, collapsed when their inhibitors failed and they realised what they'd become," said the Doctor.

"Yeah, but that was just at the main production site, there were others, remember?" said Rose. "Mickey, my dad, Jake and the rest of the original Preachers tried to destroy all of the Cybermen factories after we left, with help from the Free Information Collective in New Germany. They managed to seal all of the Cybermen inside the factories, but then it all went wrong. Millions of people complained, there were massive street protests. They thought their loved ones could be brought back. But while all that was going on the Cybermen broke free and activated all their reserve stock. There were just too many of them. They took over New Germany and Paris, and declared war on Britain. But then, as the government were mobilising the army, they found the breach and disappeared."

"…and turned up in our reality," said the Doctor. "As ghosts."

Rose just nodded. She didn't want to think about that day.

"Anyway, that's the end of your first Alternate Earth history lesson," she said, brightly. "In part two, I'll tell you all about the United States of Mexico!" he looked at her, clearly frustrated at being left on a cliffhanger, but she just laughed. It was quite fun to be the one with all the information for a change.

They reached the first of the log cabins, and the Doctor ran around it, checking it from every angle, then he opened the heavy front door and peered inside.

"Great!" he said, grinning. He turned to Rose. "It's perfect!"

Rose nudged him and he moved slightly to one side so that she could see. The interior was a large, very empty space. There were a few tools lying about, a workbench and some planks of wood, but it hadn't been divided up into separate rooms.

They looked inside some of the other cabins, and came across one that was complete. It had a long front porch, with log columns to support the upper balcony. The Doctor and Rose went inside and found themselves in a large, attractive room with a rustic stone fireplace which was built into the wall opposite them. In front of the fireplace was a long, deep sofa and a thick rug made of some kind of downy, soft material. Rose ran her hands through it, loving the way it felt against her skin, then looked up. There were heavy wooden beams running across the room from left to right, supporting the ceiling. In the corner were some stairs. Rose couldn't resist climbing them.

She reached the top level through a sort of trapdoor. The whole first floor of the cabin was a huge loft bedroom. There was no ceiling, just the underside of the roof, it was like being inside some sort of huge wooden tent. There were some framed pictures on the wall, watercolour paintings of Norwegian landscapes, majestic lakes, glaciers and forests. In the very centre of the room was a massive bed. The frame was sturdy and made from solid pine which had been polished and varnished until it was a lovely honey colour. The bed was positioned carefully so that it faced a set of sliding glass doors on the other side of the room.

Rose unlocked them, then stepped onto the balcony. It was directly above the front porch. The cabin's roof overhung the balcony slightly, giving it a cosy, sheltered feel. There were a couple of rocking chairs, slightly weather damaged, but not so badly that they couldn't be used. She sat down, looking out at the rest of the cabins, and at the pool in the centre of the clearing. It was lovely.

She sensed the Doctor was behind her, even though he hadn't made a sound. She turned round and he smiled at her, then sauntered past.

"I quite like it here. It's nice and peaceful. Well, if you ignore the zombie wolves that is." He had his hands in his pockets and was peering over the edge of the balcony. Then he gave a little wave.

"Look, there's Tomas. Hello, Tomas! Hmmm, he looks a bit cross. Maybe we should get going." he span round, grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her up out of the chair with a flourish. She stumbled, and he caught her deftly round the waist, then gave her a long, very exploratory kiss. Her arms automatically went around him, and then moved lower.

The Doctor jumped, and gave a little yelp.

"You just grabbed my bum!" he said.

Rose raised an eyebrow, and gave him a look. "Yeah? Do I need to remind you what bits of me you ended up grabbing when we were in the back of that truck?" she tilted her head to one side.

"Oh no, no I wasn't complaining. Far from it," he smiled. "Just made me jump, that's all! You've got surprisingly stong hands…"

There was a tense, annoyed little knock, then the glass doors slid open and Tomas poked his head through the gap.

"Mr Smith, Miss Tyler, we are waiting for your instructions!" said Tomas angrily.

"Sorry, yep, we were just coming," said the Doctor. "Lead on, MacDuff!" Tomas just glared at him, span around on one foot and marched back down the stairs. The Doctor and Rose looked at each other and couldn't help laughing. Then she took his hand, and they followed Tomas.

They went back to the first cabin they'd seen and the Doctor pointed out the three windows, or rather, spaces where windows should have been: they were just square holes in the cabin wall. Rolf and Hans dragged the workbench out of the cabin and set it up outside, then set to work boarding up all but one of the the holes with large, heavy planks of wood. They also had a thick sheet of metal, and a nail gun. Rose pointed to them.

"What're they for?" the Doctor looked over.

"They're for closing the final hole. I'll have to have a way to escape from the cabin once I lure the Halvmørke inside and it'll need to be sealed up as quickly as possible once I climb through. Hans and Rolf will clamp that sheet of metal over the hole as soon as I'm clear, then close it up with that nail gun as fast as they can. The metal should be enough to hold the Halvmørke back, but I might get Hans and Rolf to hammer a couple of planks of wood across it as well, just to be on the safe side."

"What do you mean, 'I'll need to have a way to escape'? I'm coming with you, remember?" she said, glaring at him.

"Rose," he said, helplessly. "There's no need for both of us…"

"No way. You can't just conveniently teleport me off somewhere safe this time. This is a totally mad plan, and I'll be in just as much danger even if I don't come with you. And anyway," she said, not meeting his eye. "For me...'safe' means being with you."

The Doctor looked into her eyes, his face unsmiling and inscrutable. Then his expression softened and he reached out and stroked her cheek gently.

"Ok," he said, then kissed her.

"Mr Smith!" shouted Tomas from behind them. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"WHAT?" he shouted, then looked at Rose. "He's even worse than your mum!" he said with a smile. He turned to look at Tomas. The middle aged, slightly portly man hurried up to him, puffing a little.

"Mr Smith, I am sorry to interrupt you, but please come with me. I have found something!"

He turned around and rushed back the way he came. The Doctor and Rose followed him. He led them to the half-finished reception building just beyond the edge of the clearing. It was just a shell. Logs, saws, bits of scaffolding and other building equipment lay scattered around it.

Next to the building was some kind of small, lumpy object, hidden underneath a blue tarpaulin. Tomas strode up to it and pulled the tarp aside with a flourish. In his suit, he looked like some kind of third rate magician. Rose half expected him to say "Ta-daaa!"

Tomas turned round and smiled at them. Then they looked at the thing the tarp had been covering, and realised why he was looking so pleased with himself. The Doctor and Rose looked at each other and laughed, then high-fived. It was a shiny, red quad bike.

The Doctor rushed up to Tomas and gave him a hug, then surprised him by grabbing his face in both hands and planting a big kiss on the top of his head.

"Tomas, you beauty!" he span him round, then let go. Tomas stumbled backwards, and nearly fell over. He gave a nervous laugh.

"I am glad you like it," he said in his clipped, Scandinavian accent. "The development company bought a lot of these ATVs for their building staff so they could travel to and from Nordstrøm more easily. I had hoped to find one."

The Doctor leapt astride it, with an excited, gleeful look in his eye.

"Brilliant!" he said, then looked at Rose, grinning. He curled his lip. "You goin' my way, doll?" he said, in his best Elvis voice.

She laughed, and climbed up behind him.

"Do you even know how to drive this thing?" she said.

"Oh, come on!" he said. "If I can drive a moped, I can work out how to use a quad bike. It's easy! It's just I shame I don't have my sunglasses. They make me look so much cooler."

He turned the key which someone had handily left in the ignition, and the engine started.

"From what I can remember, you weren't exactly much use with that moped," said Rose, sceptically.

"There you go!" said the Doctor, ignoring her. "Started right away. Tank's full, too. Hold on!"

He grabbed the handlebars, then squeezed the left hand one, hard. The quad bike lurched, then abruptly shot backward, hitting the wall of the reception centre with a thud. They both fell off.

Rose picked herself up slowly, and brushed herself off.

"Yeah, you're a proper Jeremy Clarkson, you are."

The Doctor leapt to his feet.

"I guess mopeds and quad bikes don't have as much in common as I thought." He said with a grin. She couldn't help smiling back.

"Yeah, well if we're going to use this to get away from the Halvmørke, I think I should be the one to drive."

"Oi!" said the Doctor, feigning offense. "I'm…I'm…no, wait, you're right. I'm awful. On you go."

Rose chuckled, and got back on the quad, and the Doctor sat behind her.

"Hold on!" she said. He wrapped his arms around her waist, then nuzzled the back of her neck for good measure, making her shiver.

"Hey," she said, laughing. "Are you trying to put me off?"

"Nah, me? Wouldn't dream of it." Even though she couldn't see him, she could sense him smiling.

"Here we go!" she said, then squeezed the right hand grip very gently. The quad bike moved off smoothly, and then sped up as she increased the pressure. She gave a self-satisfied little chuckle and increased the speed some more. They shot past Tomas, and she lifted a hand and gave him a cheeky little wave.

"Alright," said the Doctor, "no need to show off!"

They zipped along the little track that led back out into the clearing, then Rose squeezed the other handle gently and brought the ATV to a smooth, gradual stop. She turned and looked at the Doctor over her shoulder with a rather smug expression on her face.

"See? It's easy!" she said with a grin. He leant forward suddenly and gave her a very quick kiss on the mouth, then jumped off.

"Ok, you've made your point! You're the designated driver for this mission, but get a bit more practice, take her round the clearing a couple of times. Just a couple though, we don't want to waste the fuel."

"No problem," she said with a smile, and a second later she'd disappeared in a blur of speed, bouncing across the clearing. He thought he heard her say "whee!" at one point.

The Doctor went over to check on Hans and Rolf's progress and found them hammering in the final nails. He knocked on the boarded up windows. They were solid and secure.

"That's great," he said. "Well done."

They got the gist of what he'd said, and nodded. Tomas came over.

"Are they clear about the rest of the plan?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes," replied Tomas. "They will wait by the other window. Once you and your companion come through it, they will secure it with the metal sheet. I will wait around the side of the building, hidden. Once all the Halvmørke have followed you inside the cabin, I will close the door and bolt it."

The Doctor nodded, then noticed he was holding the shotgun.

"I thought I'd told you about that," he said coldly. "There's no point in having it."

"I will not use it unless I have to."

"You can't use it, I've been over this. If you shoot one of them, the creature inside it will just move into the nearest available host, which is likely to be you if you're the one doing the shooting. Which means you'll become a crazed lunatic. With a gun. Give it to me."

Tomas sighed, and handed it over. The Doctor emptied out the cartridges and put them in his pocket, then handed the empty gun back to him. He glared at Tomas, who had the good sense to look apologetic.

Rose chose that moment to screech to a halt beside them, looking giddy and exhilarated.

"Woo, that was fun!" she said. The Doctor grinned, then looked suddenly serious again.

"Ready?" he said. She nodded.

"Tomas, where's the Halvmørke den?" said the Doctor. Tomas fished in his pocket and pulled out a small square of paper, which he unfolded. It was a tiny, hand drawn map. He showed it to the Doctor, then pointed at a small section in the top right hand corner.

"Here is the clearing. You must follow that track over there through the forest for about three minutes. When it forks, choose the right hand path, then continue for another four minutes. That will lead you straight to the nest."

The Doctor nodded grimly, and stowed the map away in the breast pocket of his suit, then climbed onto the back of the quad bike.

"Get into position," he said to the assembled men. "We wont be long."

"Good luck to you both," said Tomas. "And thank you."

They nodded at him, then Rose started up the quad bike and they shot off across the clearing, heading for the far side. The wall of pine trees loomed closer, tall and forbidding. Then, she saw that there was a gap in the line of trees, and dimly she could just make out a thin, snaking track beyond it. She pointed the quad bike at the gap and together she and the Doctor plunged into the dark, forbidding, silent pine forest.


	6. The Chase

They sped along the gloomy forest track. The ground was covered with pine needles and they formed a sort of cushion, masking the sound of the quad bike's wheels. The trees formed a dense column on either side of the path, and the light reaching the ground was dim and green. Every so often Rose would glance up, taking comfort from the thin stripe of blue sky visible between the trees, but it wasn't enough. She felt tense and claustrophobic, almost scared, despite the fact the Doctor was behind her.

It wasn't like anything had changed, exactly. It's just that before, their adventures always had a sort of vivid, dream-like quality, so even when things got really dangerous she almost couldn't feel scared. The more situations they escaped from, the more confident she got. She felt like they were untouchable, magical. But all that changed that day in Torchwood Tower. Her luck ran out, and if it wasn't for her dad teleporting across to save her, she'd have been dead: sucked into the Void. She remembered the Doctor's agonised, helpless cry when she'd lost her grip on the lever, but even as she was being pulled backwards, she'd looked at him, half expecting him to be able to save her. No matter how hopeless it was, he always managed to do something.

But he did. She thought. Even though I was in another Universe he managed to find a way to say goodbye. That's pretty impossible, burning up a star just to see her one last time…pretty romantic, too.

"Rose?" said the Doctor gently. "You ok?"

His arms were around her and he could feel how tense she was.

"Hmm? Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she said, then smiled. "I was just thinking about how impossible you are sometimes."

"Hey," he said, "that's a bit harsh, I was only asking a question!"

"No, you daft sod!" she said, laughing. "I meant it in a good way. You do the impossible so often that they should really rename it the 'very improbable.' Nothing's impossible, not really. Not for you."

"Or for you." Said the Doctor with a smile. "Let's see: how about that time you were so determined to save me that you managed to override the TARDIS's emergency program, absorb the vortex energy, disintegrate the entire Dalek fleet into their component atoms and bring Jack back to life. You're pretty impossible yourself, Rose Tyler."

"Ah, well, you know. What can I say; we're the stuff of legend!"

"Yep!" he said, popping the 'p'. Then he gave her a squeeze that quite literally took her breath away and she made a rather endearing noise that was half gasp, half laugh. He kissed the back of her neck gently, and she swerved, almost hitting a tree.

"Oi! Cut it out you!" she said, laughing, "you're going to make me crash!"

A few seconds later they reached the fork in the path that Tomas had mentioned, and took the right-hand route. The new track was even narrower and darker than the one they'd left, and they fell silent as it was taking all of Rose's concentration to steer along it. It was eerily quiet; there were no birds or animals, well, not living ones anyway. Occasionally they would pass the sad, torn remains of a rabbit by the side of the trail, or a cluster of feathers that was all that remained of a bird.

As they went further, these carcasses became more frequent, and larger. They passed a headless fox, a badger that had been torn apart, and then the remains of a roe deer, it's glassy, lifeless eyes seeming to follow them as they drove past. Rose shuddered, and the Doctor tightened his arms around her comfortingly and kissed her shoulder, wishing again that she'd stayed behind in the clearing with the others.

They sensed (and smelled) the Halvmørke before they saw them. The atmosphere in the forest had been getting denser and more horrible the further along the track they went. There was an oily, malevolent feel in the air, and a horrible rotten smell. The den was clearly only a few metres away, just along the track. She could just make out a small clearing ahead of them. There were dead animals everywhere, and the only noise she could hear was the buzzing of flies.

"Rose," whispered the Doctor. "Stop the bike." Rose brought the quad to a gradual halt, and he got off. She prepared to climb off too, and he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. She looked at him quizzically.

"Stay here," he said. She opened her mouth to protest, and he put a finger on her lips, silencing her. "I'll only be gone long enough to attract their attention. Turn the bike round and get ready. I'll be coming at a run. Set off just before I reach you. I'll catch up and jump on, and then it'll be up to you to get us out of here."

She nodded, and smiled nervously. He leant down and kissed her mouth, then her cheek, and finally the sensitive patch of skin just below her ear. She gasped, closed her eyes and shivered.

"I love you," he whispered. She just looked into his eyes, then took his face in her hands and gave him a fierce, loving kiss.

"Be careful," she said.

"Don't be daft!" he whispered back. "Me, careful? Where's the fun in that?" he said breezily. He gave her a cheery, optimistic grin and with a last look back at her he headed off in the direction of the Halvmørke nest. She just bit her lip and gazed after him, worried, then started the bike again and span it round in a miniature U turn, her stomach twisting with concern and love.

The Doctor edged along the track, one hand over his mouth to block out the foul stench coming from the clearing ahead. There were flies everywhere, rising up from the ground as he passed in black, buzzing columns. Suddenly, the path widened and flattened out and he found himself at the edge of a small, boulder filled clearing. It was just as Tomas had described it. Entrails hung from tree branches like really ill-advised Christmas decorations. It was brighter here, although not much. The air above the clearing seemed dense, foggy almost, as if the Halvmørke were creating some kind of barrier against the sunlight.

As his eyes adjusted (more slowly than they used to, he noted glumly) he realised that the boulders weren't boulders at all. They were the hunched shapes of wolves, lying scattered around, asleep: or immobile at least.

"Right, here we go," he said, loudly. Then whistled. "Oi! You lot. Wakey wakey! Fancy going for a run?"

One by one, they lifted their heads, and their bloodshot, yellow eyes locked on his. They were swaying and looked slightly bemused at first, and several of them shook their heads as if trying to clear them. Then, the Doctor saw the yellow around their irises fade. It was if black ink was swirling across the surface of their eyes, then spreading out until they were like black holes. And with the darkness came a sense of intelligence and purpose. They swung their heads round in unison to look at him.

The one nearest to the Doctor got to its feet and let out a torn, broken-sounding growl. It sounded like an imitation of a dog or wolf. The growl changed timbre and became a snarl, and this was picked up and echoed by the others. The Doctor started to slowly back away, but the wolf-thing slowly edged toward him, clearly puzzled by his presence. As it moved closer, it became even more obvious that it was no normal wolf. It was hideous, slavering and clearly insane, with filthy, blood-streaked, matted fur.

The darkness in its eyes was the worst thing, its eye sockets seemed to be filled with a boiling nothingness that was somehow alive. Its mouth gaped open, displaying row upon row of decaying, furry, yellowed teeth. And behind the teeth: that horrible blackness that looked more alive than the creature itself. That nothingness was the real enemy, and it was wearing a wolf costume. It was mesmerising, fascinating and hideous in equal measure…then it crouched down, and the Doctor realised that he should really have started running away by now.

He flung himself backward just as the thing decided to spring. It passed over his body an inch from his face. The Doctor grabbed one of its hind legs and tugged roughly. He felt something give, and when it landed in front of him it strugged to get up again. He jumped up quickly, turned round and proceeded to leg it back along the track.

"Rose!" he yelled. "Go, go!"

She turned round, her long blonde hair fanning out and swinging over her shoulder. He caught a brief glimpse of her face, pale and anxious, then she squeezed the accelerator and the bike set off. The Doctor ran after it, and risked a glance backwards. The Halvmørke were pouring out of the clearing after him, and the closest was only a metre or two behind. He was struggling to catch up with the bike and stay ahead of them, his breathing was hoarse and ragged: he hadn't realised how much slower he'd be with just one heart and without his respiratory bypass he had to somehow remember to breathe on top of everything else. He wondered how his human companions had ever managed to keep up with him…

Rose looked over her shoulder and realised he was falling behind. She swore, and slowed right down. He ran alongside and threw himself on, sitting sidesaddle, and as soon as she felt his arm hook around her waist she opened up the throttle to it's fullest extent and the quad lurched forward at full speed. They both heard the snarl at the same time and the Doctor looked round.

The lead wolf was a foot behind them, and instinctively the Doctor raised one leg and (muttering an apology under his breath) kicked it in the head as hard as he dared. He didn't want to kill it. The thing's features distorted and crumped inwards, but there was no blood or crack of bone. It just looked sort of...deflated. But it kept running.

Then, just as they'd started to pull ahead it put on an extra burst of speed and lashed out at him with its teeth. If it had been a dog, it would have been a mere nip. But the wolf's teeth were interwoven and jagged, and it managed to tear a two inch long gash in his leg. Then the quad bike picked up some more speed and they managed to move out of range.

He grabbed his leg with his free hand and gritted his teeth, but couldn't help making a small, pained noise.

"What happened?" said Rose, glancing round. "Doctor, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he said. "Just drive!"

"Hold on," she said, grimly, then squeezed the accelerator as hard as she could. The trees on either side of them became a blur and they heard a snarl of frustration behind them. The Doctor looked back. the Halvmørke had fallen several metres behind, but they were still chasing them, presumably spurred on by the scent of his blood. The quadbike bucked and swerved along the rutted forest track. The Doctor didn't have a secure seat, he was sitting sideways, hanging onto Rose with one arm and the back of the bike with the other.

Rose could sense that something was wrong, but there was nothing she could do. It was taking all of her concentration and skill to pilot them along the narrow, obstacle-filled track.

They reached the fork in the road, and she wrenched the handlebars to the left, propelling them round the corner in a skidding, sliding turn. They were going far too fast and the whole bike tilted and fishtailed. The rear wheels lost their grip for a second, then caught again, sending a spray of mud and pine needles flying everywhere, and they shot forward suddenly. The Doctor slid to one side and almost fell off, but Rose reacted with lightning speed and flung her left arm back to steady him. His injured leg banged on the side of the quadbike and he winced in pain.

"Doctor! What's wrong? What happened?" she said urgently as they sped along the new path.

"Nothing, it's ok. Just got a bit of a nip, that's all. A scratch, really," he said, dismissively. He sounded bright and breezy, but she wasn't fooled for a second.

"A bit of a nip!? Is that Doctor-speak for a massive, gaping wound, by any chance?" she said, her voice tight with anxiety.

"Rose, just concentrate on driving, I'll be fine," he said tensely.

"You're not going to turn into one of those things, are you?" she said. Her eyes were on the track, but her mind clearly wasn't. She hit a pine branch that had fallen across the path and they bounced up and down roughly. He groaned in pain.

"Rose, listen to me," he said urgently. "These things don't work like that, they're not like that werewolf back in Scotland, I'm not going to suddenly develop an allergy to mistletoe and take up moonbathing. The only way they can possess another lifeform is if someone or something kills their host. Then the thing inside it'll have to jump into another host body to survive. Ok?"

"Ok," said Rose. "But if you start howling I'm kicking you off the bike!"

"Fair enough," said the Doctor with a grin. Then he heard a series of snarls and yelps just behind them. He turned around to look and his grin faded..

The Halvmørke were gaining again, they were a metre or two behind, and it looked like there were about twelve of them. If they caught up, he and Rose would be dead, torn to pieces in seconds.

"What?" said Rose, unable to turn round.

"Nothing, it's fine. We're nearly there, just drive."

Ahead of them, they could see the end of the track, and beyond that the bright sunlight of the large clearing where Tomas and the others were waiting. Rose squeezed the accelerator again, trying to wring a little bit of extra speed out of the quad, but it was already going at full tilt, and she could feel the overheated engine resisting her attempts to make it speed up. It was making a strange rattling noise.

"Just hold on, don't run out of fuel, please" she whispered to it under her breath.

The Doctor looked round again. The Halvmørke were closing the gap. They were only a metre or so away, then three feet, then two…

As they burst out of the forest, the bright light dazzled Rose and it took a second for her eyes to adjust. The Doctor looked round. The Halvmørke had slowed, and their long, smooth loping gait had turned into a stumbling run. They were clearly half blinded. The quad pulled ahead of them again, but the engine was making a choking sound, and they both knew that the fuel wouldn't last much longer.

Ahead of them, on the other side of the clearing they could see the cabin they were heading for. The door was wide open, and Rose knew that Tomas was hiding behind it, ready to close it behind them. At least, she hoped he was.

They sped past the pool in the centre of the grassy area, and the cabin drew gradually closer, but so did the Halvmørke. The Doctor turned round, they were a metre or two away, and gaining all the time. Then, the quadbike began to shudder and slow down.

"No!" shouted Rose. The cabin was still several yards away.

"Rose," said the Doctor, urgently. "Listen to me. We're going to have to jump off and run, ok?" she gave a tight little nod.

"Can you run on that leg?" she asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"It's not that bad, I'll be fine." He didn't actually know that for sure, but he didn't want to scare her. The bike slowed down a bit more.

"On my mark, ready? Ok, NOW!" Rose squeezed the brake, hard, and they both leapt off. Rose stumbled, but the Doctor grabbed her hand as he ran past her and pulled her after him. A millisecond later, a Halvmørke's teeth clicked together in the empty space where she'd just been.

The wolves were slower out in the daylight, and confused. Three of them paused to attack the quadbike, then the largest one snarled and they leapt forward again, chasing the two humans. They were running hand in hand. The Doctor was moving quite quickly, but Rose could see he was limping slightly and favouring his uninjured leg. She put on a burst of speed, tugging him behind her. The cabin was only a few metres away, the entrance was completely dark and she almost hesitated for a second. The thought of going into that enclosed space with those things was almost more than she could bear. But she just gritted her teeth, put her head down and plunged headlong through the door with the Doctor just slightly behind her.

They couldn't see anything other than the square of light on the far wall: their escape route. The Halvmørke poured through the door after them, attracted by the darkness. All Rose could do was fix her eyes on the hole in the wall and just run toward it, praying that the others had moved any obstructions out of the way. The little patch of daylight got bigger, and she hurled herself at it, grabbing the bottom edge in both hands and propelling herself through headfirst.

She hit the grass outside and rolled, then leapt up immediately. The Doctor was still inside, holding on the the window with both hands, his knuckles white. He was looking behind him.

"Doctor!" she shouted

"It's got hold of my foot," he yelled, then gave an almost guttural snarl of frustration. She ran forward and grabbed both of his arms, then pulled. He turned and looked at her, his eyes fixed on hers, then she saw him jerk and grit his teeth as he was tugged backwards. Suddenly, Rose was pushed roughly aside and the burly shapes of Hans and Rolf took her place. They each grabbed one of the Doctor's arms and tried to drag him through the window.

The Doctor heard the bang of the cabin door closing, and suddenly felt the pressure of the jaws around his foot disappear as the Halvmørke turned to find out the source of the noise. Without the wolf pulling him backwards he practically flew through the window, ending up on top of Hans and Rolf in a pile of arms and legs. They shunted him roughly aside and jumped up, grabbing the metal sheet and nail gun. As they brought the sheet up to cover the window, a snarling, rabid Halvmørke appeared in the hole, its face contorted and its claws scrabbling on the window ledge, trying to get through. Rolf punched it in the face, hard, and it fell backwards out of sight.

As the two Norwegian men clamped the sheet of metal over the hole and began the process of securing it in place with the nail gun, Rose crouched at the Doctor's side. He was lying in the grass, panting.

"I'm ok," he said, seeing the look of distress on her face. "Rose, look, I'm fine." She looked at his leg, the cut had started to bleed again, but it wasn't too bad. His left shoe had several puncture holes in it from the wolf's teeth, but his foot seemed ok. She tore a long strip of pink fabric from the bottom of her T-shirt, albeit with some difficulty (she had to bite at the hem with her teeth to get it started) and used it to bind his leg wound.

"Gjort den!" said Rolf, triumphantly. The Doctor and Rose turned round, and saw Rolf and Hans firing in the final couple of nails, riveting the window closed. Rose gave them a beautiful, broad grin, and then she flung her arms around the Doctor and they fell back onto the grass together, laughing. He kissed her.

Then, from behind them they heard a cry of terror. Their heads both shot round, and Rose's mouth dropped open. She was just in time to see the huge, grey shape of the lead wolf appear around the side of the cabin and barrel into Rolf, it's jaws meeting around his throat, tearing it out. The creature worried Rolf's corpse for a few seconds, then lifted its bloody, gore-stained muzzle and fixed its pitch black eyes on Rose and the Doctor. Then it gave an almost human-like grin of satisfaction. It clearly recognised them as the people who'd lured its pack-mates into a trap. Ignoring Hans, who was pressed up against the side of the cabin, weeping in terror, it stalked closer to them, its body tensed and ready to spring...

They got to their feet, and started to slowly back away. The Doctor was in front of Rose, his arm flung behind him, protecting her as his mind worked frantically, trying to think of a way out.

Then, behind the wolf, he saw a figure creep around the corner of the log cabin. It was Tomas. Silently, he crept towards Rolf's corpse, and picked up the nail gun. The Doctor shook his head convulsively.

"Oh no, no, no. Tomas, NO!" but it was too late. As the wolf turned around to see what the Doctor was reacting to, Tomas raised the gun, and sent a nail flying right at the creature's head. It hit it right between the eyes and it fell to the ground.

"Run! All of you! RUN!" the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and tried to pull her along behind him, but she didn't move. Dread clutched at his heart. He turned his head slowly. She was just standing there, her eyes closed.

"Oh god, no. Please," he murmured. "Rose!" he walked in front of her. She was completely immobile, like some kind of statue. Then, she opened her eyes and he saw the terror there.

"Doctor, I can't m…" she didn't manage to finish. The blackness swirled across her eyes, and she cried out, but her cry of pain was cut off midway through. The thing inside her peered out at the Doctor with a look of glee, then gave an insane, evil, snarling grin. He jumped back just as her hand came up to claw at his face.

"Help me!" he screamed at Tomas, who was just standing there, his mouth gaping open. "We need to restrain her." She flung herself at him again with a screech of rage, her teeth bared. He flung himelf out of the way, then as she lurched forward he grabbed her from behind, wrapping his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides. She struggled, screamed and kicked out.

"Get me some rope, anything!" he shouted at Tomas, who shook himself and ran off in the direction of the main spa building. The Doctor continued to hold onto Rose, who was shrieking and gabbling unintelligible, guttural words.

Tomas reappeared a second or two later, holding a long length of thin metal cable which had been attached to the collapsed scaffolding. Together he and the Doctor managed to wrap it around Rose. She fell to the ground, kicking, and the Doctor made Tomas hold her down while he tied her legs.

"Rose, I'm sorry," he whispered as he tied her up. "I'm so sorry." A single tear slid down his cheek and he brushed it away with one finger. The creature just hissed and spat. He bent over her, and held her head in his hands, steadying her, forcing her to look at him.

"I'll get it out of you, I promise," he said. "Rose, if you can hear me, don't worry. I'll find a way to fix this."

"But how will you do that?" said Tomas. "You said that once one of those things possesses someone, the only way it can leave is if the host dies."

"Shut up!" hissed the Doctor, his face suffused with rage. "Just shut up, alright? What the hell were you thinking? I told you what would happen if you killed one of them? Why do people never LISTEN?" Tomas backed away, looking terrified.

"I am sorry. The biggest one, it wouldn't go inside. I think it suspected it was a trap. I had to close the door or the others would have escaped. It was about to kill me and then it heard sound of the nail gun and ran around to the back. I didn't know what else to do. It would have killed all of us if I hadn't shot it."

"Yeah? Well it's the biggest mistake you've ever made, because if I lose her then its your fault. And believe me, you do NOT want to know what I'll do if that happens." His eyes were full of fire, and Tomas backed away.

"I am sorry," he repeated, looking at the ground, unable to meet the Doctor's intense, furious gaze.

The Doctor glared at him again, then turned his attention back to Rose. Her body was bucking on the grass as the Halvmørke struggled, trying to escape. He could see the metal cable digging into her flesh, marking her soft skin and leaving painful red welts.

"Stop it!" he shouted, "you're hurting her." He knelt beside her and put his hands on her shoulders, forcing the creature to lie still. It glared at him balefully. It made a series of coughing, hissing noises that gradually took the form of words.

"Her Doctor. You are the one she calls her Doctor," it hissed. "You are all she thinks of, thisssss body is polluted with her disgusting feelings of love." It screamed in agony, and flung back its head.

There was a flurry of snarls and growls from the cabin, and the Doctor looked round.

"Tomas, get Hans and bring the truck here. There's a can of petrol in the back of it. It's time to finish this."

Tomas nodded, and then repeated this to Hans. They both ran in the direction of the truck. Hans started it, then drove it over to where the Doctor was kneeling. He stood up, and Tomas climbed down out of it, holding the fuel canister.

"Help me put her in the back," said the Doctor, bluntly.

"Why?" said Tomas. "Surely you don't intend to take her back with us? She is possessed, and dangerous! Surely it would be better to put her in there, with the rest of them." He pointed at the cabin, then quickly lowered his finger when he saw the Doctor's expression, but he wasn't in time to dodge the fist that the Doctor sent flying at his face. It made a sickening crack as it connected with his jaw, and Tomas fell backwards onto the grass. Hans just stared.

Tomas lay there for a second, clutching his jaw, then he said something to Hans in Norwegian. Hans nodded, then reluctantly walked over to Rose, trying not to look at her. He bent down and took hold of her legs, then looked at the Doctor expectantly.

The Doctor hooked his arms under her shoulders and together they picked her up. She fought, twisted and hissed but somehow they managed to hold on and lift her up onto the back of the truck.

"Stay with her," he said to Hans, his eyes blazing. He took the petrol canister, and walked around the cabin, sloshing petrol liberally up the sides, then once he'd gone all the way around he walked slowly away from it, dribbling a long trail of petrol onto the grass, leading back towards the truck until it ran out.

He went back to the others.

"Turn the truck around, and start the engine," he ordered, his voice was flat and emotionless. Tomas relayed the instructions to Hans, and they backed the truck around. The Doctor climbed up onto the bed of the truck, next to Rose. Her shining black eyes were like twin pools of darkness, and they glittered feverishly. He looked away and blinked back tears. He took a box of matches from his pocket. The creature inside Rose howled as it realised what he intended to do.

He looked it in the eyes, and lit a match deliberately. Then he flung it onto the grass so that it landed at the end of the trail of petrol.

"DRIVE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. The truck's wheels spun for a second, then caught and they hurtled forward just as the line of petrol burst into flame and went shooting towards the cabin.

"Noooooooo!" screamed the Halvmørke inside Rose.

As they shot away across the clearing, the Doctor saw the flames begin to catch and crawl up the side of the cabin. The creatures inside began to howl and snarl, but it was no use. By the time they were almost out of sight, the cabin had become an inferno, white hot in the centre, a latticed, skeletal structure of glowing, red hot tree trunks and billowing smoke. The host bodies were almost certainly dead now, but they were too far away for the Halvmørke to infest them.

The Doctor looked down at Rose. Her face was twisted and contorted in rage and hatred. She no longer looked anything like the person he loved. But she was still in there, and he knew he had to save her. He just didn't know how.


	7. A Girl Possessed

The rusty old truck rattled along the forest track at top speed with the Doctor and Rose in the back. He was crouched on top of her with a hand on each of her shoulders, holding her down. Her body bucked and writhed underneath him. He tried hard not to think of their last journey together in the back of this truck. She'd been writhing around then too, but for entirely different reasons.

He looked into the thing's coal-black, glittering eyes. They were narrowed in fury and hatred, and it just screeched. Ever since it had seen the other Halvmørke go up in flames, it had been convulsing in fits of rage, hissing, spitting and struggling frantically against the thin metal cable that was wrapped tightly around Rose's body.

"Stop it," said the Doctor between gritted teeth. "Just stop it!"

The thing just snarled and struggled harder.

"You…." it hissed. "She sees you. She's here, inssside me, ssscreaming your name!" It laughed, a dry, hoarse, clicking sound that made the Doctor feel physically sick. It was like the rattle of dry bones in a crypt. Then it hissed in pain.

"The way she feels about you, it's hideoussss. It burns! Humansss, with their love and emotions and feelings, it's torture!"

"Get out of her then!" he shouted. "Get out of this Universe! Go back to the Void, where you belong. I'm warning you…"

"I can ssseee your mind, DOCTOR! You know as well as I that I'm imprisoned inside this girl. But go ahead, kill her, set me free!" it cried with a leer, then bared its teeth and tried to bite his arm. He put his hand on Rose's neck and forced the thing's head down, hating what he was doing, hating the sight of his fingers digging into the soft skin of her throat.

The Halvmørke made a choking noise and fell still, although it still stared at him balefully with its horrible dark eyes.

"Listen to me, LISTEN! I won't give up on her. I never have. I'm going to get you out of that body, and when I do, you have a choice. You can return to the Void, or you can die. It's as simple as that," said the Doctor, letting go of her neck.

"The pathways to the Void have resealed themselvesss," said the creature, but its eyes darted from side to side shiftily.

"Don't give me that," said the Doctor, scathingly. "There are still the Old Ways, and you know it."

"Did you ever tell your little friend about the Old Ways?" said the creature, with a sly grin. "The paths the Guardians of Time carved in order to travel between the realitiessss? Ohhh, I can feel her stirring within me, she's fallen silent. She's listening…"

The Doctor looked furious.

"The only things that can use those paths are transcendental beings like the Guardians, and wretched scraps of Void energy, like you," he shouted. "The Old Ways are an impossibility made real. They're semi-imaginary, zero-dimensional mini-wormholes through Calabi-Yau metaspace. Plus, they go via the Kodaira dimension, and I assume I don't need to tell you what that means," he said, his eyes narrowing.

The creature shuddered. But the Doctor wasn't saying this for the Halvmørke's benefit any more. He was saying all of this in the hope that Rose could somehow hear.

"The Old Ways were designed to be undetectable," continued the Doctor, his tone one of furious intensity. "Even I don't know how to find them, and I am VERY clever indeed. I can't even begin to calculate the Chern numbers and holomorphic polynomial tangents involved. So why would I have told her? She would have tried to find the Old Ways, and she'd have used them if she could. I know she would, it's what she's like. And she'd have died trying!"

"Maybe she wouldn't have," said the creature, baring its teeth in a feral grin. "I can feel her determination to ssssurvive. She's certainly resourceful...ah, but maybe you didn't want her to know about the Old Ways? Maybe you just wanted rid of her. You must have been SO disappointed when she found her way back to you." It gave an evil little chuckle.

"Shut up!" shouted the Doctor. "She knows that's not true."

"Does she?" it chuckled again. "Are you su…" but before it could finish, it made a strangled, choking noise. It froze for a moment, and then the Doctor saw the blackness suddenly drain from Rose's eyes.

She was herself again, just for a second, but he could see she was losing the fight. Her face was pale, she was shaking and then a thin stream of blood began to run from her nose.

"Doctor, it's trying to make you angry! Don't let it, I can see into its mind…" then she screamed, and the darkness flowed back into her eyes again. The creature began to repeatedly bang Rose's head against the metal floor of the truck. The Doctor dived across and thrust his hand underneath her head, cradling it, then put his other hand on her forehead, holding her still. He sat like this for several minutes. The creature was motionless, it's eyes closed, presumably recovering from Rose's internal assault.

The Doctor just sat there, cradling her head, staring into the middle distance, his face grim and etched with worry. He was beginning to formulate a plan, but he could barely stand to contemplate what he was going to have to do.

After what seemed like an eternity, the truck pulled up outside Lars' Bar, and Hans and Tomas got out. There was a small crowd waiting outside, looking expectant. A middle aged woman stepped forward, her hands outstretched, crying.

"Rolf!" she sobbed. "Hvor er Rolf?"

Hans walked up to her and took her hands in his, then shook his head. She doubled over, clutching her stomach, weeping hysterically. He tried to hug her but she pulled away and ran off down the street, pursued by a young man that the Doctor assumed was Rolf's son, as he was crying too.

He felt the Halvmørke stir, then it tried to wrench Rose's head free. The Doctor tightened his grip, and it snarled. The assembled crowd heard the noise and backed away from the truck, looking shocked. Tomas gabbled something in Norwegian and they just stared at him, then gradually began to smile. A few people even turned to the Doctor and cheered. He just gazed at them, blankly. What on Earth could they possibly be cheering about, while Rose lay trussed at his feet, her mind taken over by a demon? He jumped down from the back of the truck.

"Mr Smith, Doctor, whoever you are," said Tomas. "I told them about the cabin, that the Halvmørke are gone, burned. They are very grateful."

"Yeah, but they haven't all gone, have they?" said the Doctor harshly, through gritted teeth. "In case you've forgotten, Rose is going to die if I don't do something." He poked Tomas in the chest, hard, then turned to address the crowd.

"You. All of you. Get out of here!" he yelled. They looked at him, puzzled, then at Tomas.

"His friend was injured in the fight with the wolves," said Tomas in Norwegian. "He is distressed. It would be best if you all went home for now." The assembled people looked at each other, and a few shrugged. They dispersed, and Hans left too, although the Doctor gave him a brief nod of acknowlegement and thanks as he passed, then turned back to Tomas again.

"Help me get Rose inside, now!" barked the Doctor. He and Tomas swung Rose down from the back of the truck, and the Doctor flung her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. Tomas was amazed by his wiry strength, and a more than a little afraid of this strange, implacable, rage-filled man. The Doctor held her against himself tightly, stopping the creature inside her from struggling too much and injuring her even more.

They went inside the bar, and took her upstairs into the bedroom that they'd left that morning, although it felt like a million years ago. He lay Rose down on the bed, and the Halvmørke bared its teeth and snarled, then shook its head violently from side to side, forcing the Doctor to hold it still again.

"Tomas, I need..." he began, but was interrupted by a loud wail.

"Rose! My Rose, what's happened? Oh God, What have you done to her?"

Jackie flew past and ran to the bed, then pushed the Doctor to one side. She started to untie the thin metal cable that was restraining her daughter.

"Jackie! NO!" shouted the Doctor, then lunged forward, grabbing her around the waist and wrenching her backwards, kicking and screaming. She managed to struggle free and whirled around to face him.

"Get off me!" she shrieked, hitting him. "You're mad! You've gone mad!" she started to sob, then collapsed onto the ground in a sitting position, looking dazed.

"Jackie, listen to me. LISTEN!" he took her head in his hands, and forced her to look at him. Her mascara was streaked and running down her face and she glared at him with red rimmed eyes. "Jackie, it's inside her, one of those things. The Halvmørke. But it's ok, I'll get it out, I promise. I'll save her."

"No!" she cried, and struggled to her feet. She looked down at Rose, and then recoiled as she opened her eyes and she saw the darkness swirling over the surface. She screamed, then turned around and flung herself at the Doctor, beating at him with her fists.

"How could you let this happen? How could you? Five minutes you've been back in her life, and look at her!" she was crying, and he let her hit him until the blows gradually lessened. Eventually she just collapsed against his chest, sobbing. He put his arms around her.

"Jackie," he said quietly. "I'm going to save her, do you hear me? I promise."

"How?" she said, between sobs. "I heard you before. If one gets into you, that's it. It's trapped there. The only way it can leave Rose is if she dies...oh God!" she began to wail. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, and moved her backwards so he could look into her face. His eyes were blazing, and she stopped crying for a second, shocked by the ferocity of his expression.

"Listen to me, I'm getting that thing out of her, NOW!" he turned to the creature on the bed, it was making a low, guttural growling noise and staring at them. He could see himself reflected in the black, mirrored surface of its eyes. He moved Jackie aside and went over to the bed.

"You are letting her go! Do you hear me? You're inside someone I love, and that is NOT a safe place to be!" the thing just snarled, and thrashed around. He turned to Tomas.

"Tomas," he said, urgently. "Has anyone in this town got a dog? It has to be aggressive, fierce. Think!"

Tomas looked thoughtful for a second, and rubbed his jaw, seemingly oblivious of the fact it was swollen and bruised.

"Yes, I believe Arve Jenssen does," Tomas replied. "He owns a lumber yard just on the edge of town, and he has a guard dog. It's a mean old creature. Before he got it, children used to sneak into his yard to play hide and seek, but now they wont go near the place. Why do you ask?"

The Doctor looked at him but didn't answer. Tomas recoiled slightly. The Doctor's face was drawn and haggard, his eyes red with unshed tears.

"Where's Lars?" said the Doctor, ignoring Tomas. "LARS!" he roared. The innkeeper poked his head around the doorframe, looking terrified.

"Lars," said the Doctor in a low, urgent tone. "Have you got a basement here, a cellar, anything like that?"

"Er, Ja. My wine cellar."

"How do you get into it?"

"It has, how you say? A falldør," said Lars.

"A trapdoor," explained Tomas.

"What else? Has it got any windows, anything like that?" said the Doctor, holding onto Lars' upper arms, almost shaking him in his rush to get the information he needed.

"No!" said Lars, "just the trapdoor, and without the ladder there is a six foot drop into the cellar below."

"That's fine. Perfect," said the Doctor, but he didn't smile. He let go of Lars. "Go on, both of you! What are you waiting for? Tomas, go to Arve's place, get that dog. Bring it here, to me. And Lars, go out and find me a strong net, there must be plenty round here, half the town must be fishermen."

Lars looked worried, but nodded, and he and Tomas rushed off.

"What are you going to do?" asked Jackie, her face red and blotchy from crying. He didn't reply. "Doctor! Tell me!"

"Don't make this any harder than it already is, Jackie. Please. Just trust me."

"I can't. Maybe she can, but I can't." she went over to the bed, and stroked Rose's hair. She jerked away with a hoarse cry, then growled.

"You...are...its motherrr," said the Halvmørke, with a hiss of contempt.

"YES, yes I am. And she's not an it! She's a she!" she screamed, her face livid. She raised a hand to strike the creature and the Doctor grabbed it and twisted it around behind her back.

"Jackie, don't. It's deep inside her mind. You can't hit it, you'll just hurt her." He guided her to one of the chairs in the corner and made her sit down. She put her face in her hands and started to cry again. The Doctor just stood by the bed, looking down at Rose, trying to catch a glimpse of her in the depths of the creature's gleaming eyes. But all he could see was the reflection of himself: an angry, grim faced man with pain etched into every line on his face. He looked away and started pacing around the room.

About twenty minutes later, he heard the front door slam and a series of snarling, hoarse barks drew steadily closer. A huge, slavering dog burst into the room, dragging Tomas behind it. It had reddened, bleary eyes and a grizzled muzzle. It was muscular and stocky and looked like a alsatian that had been crossed with a tank. It saw the Doctor, and lunged forward, its teeth bared. Tomas hauled it backwards, grunting with effort. Its lead was an old piece of chain, thick and rusty.

"I do not think it likes you." said Tomas.

"No kidding," said the Doctor. "Just hang onto it. Where's Lars?"

"I am here," said Lars, rushing into the room with a large, folded net made from thin black wire. "It is a good net, the best I could get."

The Doctor nodded.

"Now listen to me, both of you," he said, his voice thrumming with an undercurrent of tension and fury, "this is not a game, or a rehearsal. That thing is going to leave Rose, and when it does, it'll jump into that dog, the most savage creature available to it. Lars, you need to be ready with that net. Tomas, get ready to help him. Once it's inside the dog, you'll need to drag it down to the cellar, and throw it in."

"Won't you be helping them?" said Jackie, suspiciously.

He just looked at her, his expression unreadable, then shook his head.

"I'll be busy," he said, coldly. He walked over to Rose.

"What are you going to do?" said Jackie, terrified. She jumped to her feet. "Doctor! You have to tell me. I'm her mum, for God's sake." But he ignored her, and reached out towards Rose, his face white. The Halvmørke squirmed, digging its shoulderblades into the bed, trying to wriggle away from him, but it was no use. The Doctor's hand hovered in the air above Rose's face, then he brought it down to cover her mouth and nose.

Jackie screamed, and ran over, raining blows on him, pushing him away from her.

"Stop it! STOP IT! What are you doing? You're mad, you are! You'll kill her!"

He moved his hands away from Rose's face to grab Jackie's arms, forcing her to stop hitting him. The Halvmørke took a rattling, hissing breath.

"If I'm right, this should work," he said, but she just continued to hurl abuse at him, calling him all the names under the sun.

"You're horrible and cruel and dangerous and mad and..."

"Shut up. I need you to SHUT UP!" he yelled. She stopped her tirade of insults and just glared at him.

"IF you're right? What do you mean, IF?" she shouted. "That's not good enough!"

"It's the best I've got, ok? Just get out, leave the room. Her body's weakening, even you can see that, surely. Human bodies can't support the Halvmørke for long, they're too fragile. We have to get that thing out of her, now, and this is the only way."

She looked at him, then at Rose. She was so pale, and her lips were white and bloodless. The thing had closed its eyes again, and was breathing in shallow little gasps.

She looked back at the Doctor, and nodded, tears running down her face. Then, with one final backward glance at her daughter she ran from the room, sobbing.

The Doctor went over to where Rose was lying, his face inscrutable and grim. The thing just looked at him. It made no attempt to struggle as he covered its mouth and nose with both hands. He glanced back at Lars and Tomas.

"Hold on to that dog, tightly." He said to them. He didn't look down at Rose, he couldn't. He looked up instead, tears streaming down his face. He could feel the thing begin to convulse, and beneath his hands her lips parted as the thing tried to draw air into her lungs. He pressed his hand more firmly against her mouth. The creature shuddered, thrashed around, and then finally lay still.

He took his hand away and looked down. She was lying there, completely still and pale, her eyes were open and glassy, but still completely black.

"No!" he shouted. "Get out of her! NOW!" As he watched, the darkness drained from her eyes, painfully slowly. Then suddenly he felt a rush of freezing cold air speed past him, and he caught a glimpse of its shadow, an oily, black, twisting shape.

"Lars, the net! Get ready!" he yelled.

He heard a snarl, then the two men began to shout, but he didn't look round to see what was happening. He placed the heel of his hand in the centre of Rose's chest, put his other hand on top and interlocked his fingers, pressing down, twenty, thirty times in quick succession. Then he leant over Rose, covered her nose and and pressed his mouth against her cold, blue lips, blowing air into her lungs until he saw her chest rise. But nothing happened. He started compressions again.

Behind him he heard the sound of a deadly struggle in progress, but he didn't look round. It was as if the dog's snarls and growls were coming from a hundred miles away. He pushed down on her chest again and again, his eyes fixed on hers, willing her to come back.

"You can do it, stay with me. Stay with me Rose, please, come back to me. Dont you dare leave me. Don't you DARE!"

He leant down and pressed his lips to hers again. From behind him came a shout of triumph as Lars managed to entangle the possessed dog in the net, then a yell of pain as it stumbled and fell on top of him, thrashing around.

Tomas grabbed the net and hauled it with all his might, and the snarling, growling, thrashing bundle slid off Lars, and he jumped to his feet again.

Between them, the two men managed to pull and push the struggling creature out of the room until they reached the top of the stairs, then they let it drop. It bumped and rolled all the way down, snarling and yelping until it hit the bottom of the stairs with a heavy thud that made the whole rickety building vibrate. It lay there, stunned.

They ran down after it. Lars leapt over the dog, ran behind the bar and grabbed the trapdoor's old, rusty handle: a huge iron ring set into the floor. He pulled on it, hard, the veins standing out on his neck. It was heavy, and he suddenly remembered that it had a tendency to stick in damp weather. He swore, took a breather for a second, then tried again. Just as he was about to give up, it came loose and flew open. He fell backwards, winded.

"Hurry!" shouted Tomas. Lars struggled to his feet and ran over to the bottom of the stairs. The Halvmørke was snapping at the net with its sharp teeth, trying to make a hole in it. Tomas kicked it in the muzzle, feeling vaguely guilty (he'd always been fond of dogs) and it yelped, then let out a horrible, slavering growl and bit his foot though the netting.

He screamed and fell backwards, kicking out at the creature with his other foot. It snarled and let go, and Tomas clambered to his feet again, limping and cursing. He and Lars took hold of the net, taking care to grab the side furthest away from the thing's jaws, and together they tugged and dragged it over to the trapdoor.

It saw what they were trying to do and redoubled it's efforts to get free. It tore at the netting and managed to make a large hole in it. It wriggled from side to side, enlarging the hole, then pushed its head through. It snapped wildly at the two men who were dragging it along. They kicked it again, stunning it, then gave one last almighty heave, and it slid across the floor, stopping just short of the trapdoor.

It wriggled again and somehow it managed to free its front legs. Slowly, it began to claw its way across the floor towards them. They clutched at each other, and started to back away, terrified. Then they felt someone shove past them roughly. It was Jackie, and she was holding a length of iron piping. Her eyes glowed with fury.

"Never send a man to do a woman's job," she said, then swung the pipe at the Halvmørke, catching it just beneath the jaw and sending it flying head over heels back the way it came. It's hind legs fell into the hole, and it scrabbled frantically for a second with its forelegs, its claws tearing long grooves in the wooden floor. Then it slid backwards, falling into the darkness with a howl of furious disappointment. Lars and Tomas ran over and flung the trapdoor closed, bolted it, and collapsed on top of it, panting, their arms around each other.

--

Up in the bedroom, the Doctor was still pumping Rose's chest frantically.

"No, no no no NO!" he yelled. It had been over two minutes. More than four minutes, and she'd be gone for good.

He leant down again and blew into her mouth, as hard as he could. His tears fell onto her face as he bent forward.

He pulled back, but nothing happened. She just lay there, cold and pale. He made a stangled, visceral cry of pain and banged his fists against her chest in frustration.

Suddenly, her eyes flew open and she sat up. She sucked in a huge, deep, shuddering breath, then gasped painfully. He flung his arms around her, cradling her. She just lay in his arms, coughing and struggling for air. He lowered her gently back down onto the bed.

"Rose! Can you hear me?" he said anxiously. Her breathing deepened, and she turned her head towards him. Her eyes locked with his, then she gave a weak, tentative smile.

"Hello," she whispered.

He looked down at her, amazement and relief flooding through his body.

"Hello!" he whispered back, then kissed her on the lips, incredibly gently. When he pulled away, Rose looked into his eyes and gave an amused little smile.

"Doctor?" she said, "would you mind untying me? It's just I'm not really into that kind of thing, if you get my drift." She chuckled, and he grinned at her, loving the sound of her laughter.

His hands fumbled with the metal cable, unwinding it gently, wincing when he saw the red lines it had left across her arms and lower body.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He took her hand and turned her palm to face him, then kissed it. A single tear fell from the corner of his eye, and she brushed it away gently.

"Lie next to me," she whispered. He got up onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her. She fitted against him perfectly. He kissed the top of her head, and breathed in the delicate scent of her hair. She kissed his neck, the only part of him she could reach, and he shivered. She pulled back, and looked up at him. Her lips parted and she was about to say something, but then a deafening shout filled the room and she turned round in surprise.

"ROSE! Oh thank God, thank God!" Jackie ran over to the bed and Rose sat up and threw her arms around her mum, who immediately started crying.

"It's ok Mum. I'm fine, honest," said Rose. Jackie just rocked her back and forward as if she were a tiny child again. The Doctor edged off the bed and stood up.

"Jackie, what happened with the Halvmørke? Did Lars and Tomas get it into the cellar?" he asked.

Jackie tutted, and turned around to look at him, still hugging Rose.

"They were bloody useless, those two. But I sorted it out. It's down there now, and it can't get out, don't you worry."

The Doctor nodded. "I should know better than to underestimate one of the Tyler women! Should have given that job to you in the first place," he said, then smiled. Jackie looked at him impassively for a second, then smiled back, realising he was trying to make amends for the rather harsh way he'd had to treat her earlier.

"So what're we going to do about that thing in the cellar?" said Rose, extricating herself from her mother's arms with some difficulty.

"Leave it to me," said the Doctor grimly, then he turned and left the room.


	8. Alone at Last

The Doctor strode down the stairs and into the main bar area. Tomas and Lars were standing close together in the corner, and jumped apart when he came in. He looked at them, with one eyebrow raised, but didn't say anything. He just tilted his head in the direction of the main door, and they nodded and left the building.

He walked over to the table in the centre of the room. Five shotguns were still stacked against the side of the table. He reached out and took one with a look of profound disgust, then opened it to check it was loaded. Then he went behind the bar, and stood in front of the trapdoor, looking down at it.

He bent down and grabbed the iron ring, and heaved it open with one hand. A series of snarls and growls echoed up through the hole, but it was as if the Doctor didn't even hear them. He jumped down into the darkness without a seconds hesitation

He landed in a crouching position with a heavy thud, but managed to keep his balance and straighten up. The cellar was windowless, but a small amount of light filtered down through the open trapdoor above his head, and he could see the bulky shape of the possessed dog in the corner. It was staring at him and making an unpleasant, staccato snarling noise. It sounded like an rusty saw being dragged across the edge of a tin bath.

"Shut up," said the Doctor in a low voice. The creature glared at him, but did as it was told.

"Oh, you're a clever one, you are," said the Doctor, with a grim smile. "But you see, and this is the important thing. You're not as clever as me: I'm VERY clever. Old, too. Old and clever, that's me!"

He brought the gun up to his shoulder, with a wince of distaste. The Halvmørke retreated deeper into the shadows, watching him.

"I hate these things," he said. "Guns, bombs, weapons. All that stuff. And the annoying thing is, I could have recalibrated my sonic screwdriver to transmit a frequency that would have driven you out of Rose's body just like that." He snapped his fingers, and the creature flinched and growled. "Could have saved the life of that dog you're in at the moment, as well. But I've not got a sonic screwdriver anymore. No TARDIS either. But do you know what I have got? Rose. And she is SO much more important."

He flicked the gun's safety catch off.

"And you know what you did? You nearly killed her. Tried to take her away from me. And that was a VERY bad move."

He pulled the trigger. The gun thundered in the small, enclosed space. It was deafening. Pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling and smoke filled the air. When it cleared, the dog was lying slumped in the corner, dead. He looked down at the gun and then threw it to one side, repulsed.

The Doctor reached into his suit pocket, pulled out a pair of cheap looking 3D glasses, and put them on.

"Still got these though," he said, and smiled. It was the same suit he had been wearing that day in Torchwood Tower, when he'd shown Rose the 'Void Stuff', and he wasn't in the habit of ever emptying his pockets.

With the glasses on, he could see a dark shape hovering in mid air above the dog. It was constantly twisting and changing, morphing itself into a variety of hideous, disturbing shapes. They didn't bother him one bit though, he'd seen far worse things over the years. It hesitated for a second, and then darted towards him. He just held his hand up, and it froze. It was scared of him, but he could also see that bits of it were starting to break away and disintegrate. It needed to find a new host, and soon. It moved forward again.

"Don't do that," he said, calmly. It hesitated for a second, then edged forward. "No, REALLY don't. That would be a very bad move on your part. You see, you know how humans are so emotional? You hate that, don't you? Being inside them with all those memories, thoughts of people they care about, friendship, feelings of love? Well, Rose had twenty-three years worth of those feelings. They were pretty intense feelings, but still."

The Halvmørke was moving closer again, clearly desperate now. It's outline was vibrating wildly as the Earth's magnetic field and other natural forces played havoc with its ability to hold itself together. It was hovering a few inches away, from his face, but the Doctor didn't move.

"Just twenty three years worth of feelings and memories, and it was torture to you, agony." he leant forward so his face was almost touching the Halvmørke. "So just imagine what NINE HUNDRED YEARS worth would feel like," he said with a growl. The thing flinched, and retreated. Then he heard it's voice filling his mind.

What else am I to do? I'll be torn apart.

"There are still the Old Ways," he said calmly. The Halvmørke just hissed in his mind.

I won't use them. They pass through the Kodaira dimension. It is too painful, it twists my essence. There is no space, no light, no reality! It's agony!

"Believe me, that's nothing compared to how you'd feel inside here." He tapped his head, twice, with a grim smile.

The thing hovered for a second, then appeared to make a decision. It hissed again and then began to fold into itself, coalescing and collapsing inward until it was a tiny black speck hovering in mid air, then, with one last defeated snarl, it winked out of existence.

The Doctor whipped off his 3D glasses with a broad grin.

"I'm VERY good!" he shouted.

"Doctor?" shouted a voice from above. He saw Rose's head appear in the square hole above him.

"Hello!" he said cheekily. He grinned again, even more widely. She smiled back worriedly.

"Are you ok? Is it gone?"

"Oh yes!" he said, with an exuberant laugh. "It's probably passing through the Kodaira dimension as we speak, and I hope it hurts. Is there a ladder up there, by any chance?"

"Hang on!" her head disappeared, and a minute or two later she lowered a long, wooden ladder into the hole. He climbed up it. She watched him emerge from the cellar, looking incredible, tousled and triumphant. She laughed, and flung herself into his arms. He wrapped them around her, hugging her tightly, then pulled back and gave her a deep, passionate, incredibly happy kiss that made ever single part of her body tingle (some more than others). They pulled apart and she laughed joyfully, and took hold of his hands. They just gazed into each others eyes in silence, there were no words to express the way they were feeling, the dazed, amazed, overjoyed look on their faces said it all.

The Doctor and Rose sat in the back of Tomas's old blue car, speeding along the same forest track they'd travelled along that morning. It was dark, but the car's headlights illuminated the path ahead and the full moon shed enough light to see by. Jackie was in the front passenger seat, although she was being uncharacteristically quiet.

Rose was asleep with her head resting against the Doctor's chest. He'd taken his jacket off and draped it over her. He had his arms around her, and a incredibly contented, peaceful look on his face. Jackie turned round to look at him. She'd never seen him look so calm and happy. She remembered the intense, furious state he'd been in when that creature had been inside Rose. The contrast was amazing, it was like the difference between a deadly, storm-wracked ocean and a child's paddling pool. He caught her looking at him and smiled.

A few minutes later they pulled up in the clearing. The Doctor looked out of the window, and laughed incredulously.

"Whooo! Who did that? Tomas, was it you?" Tomas looked round, and shook his head, smiling.

"It was the whole town. They wanted to say thank you." The Doctor laughed again, then gently shook Rose awake.

"What is it?" she said, dazed. "Where are we?"

"Just look," said the Doctor, quietly. She peered out of the window.

The forest clearing had been transformed. Hundreds upon hundreds of candles surrounded the gently steaming pool in the centre, and a parallel line of candles linked the pool to the cabin they'd been inside earlier, marking out a little path. The windows of the cabin glowed welcomingly, a fire had been lit inside and candles had been set in the windows.

The effect was stunning, the whole clearing looked like something out of a fairy tale. Rose fumbled for the door handle, her eyes still fixed on the sight in front of her, and got out of the car, her mouth open. The Doctor followed her, then reached down to take her hand. She looked up at him.

"Is this a dream?" she asked. He could see a thousand points of light dancing in her eyes.

"No," he said with a smile. "It's real." He kissed her, then he heard the car's engine start. They both looked round. Tomas had turned it back towards Nordstrøm and was clearly about to set off, but Jackie was still in the car. Rose looked at her mum quizically.

"Where are you going?" she asked. Jackie wound the window down.

"Back to the pub, of course!" she said with a smile. "I reckon they'll be having a bit of a knees-up, you know, to celebrate. Wouldn't want to miss that! I've not had a night out in ages, not since Tony came along. I'll stay there tonight."

Rose just looked at her mum, her eyes full of gratitude. Jackie smiled, then the car set off, and she waved. Rose and the Doctor waved back, until the car rounded a bend in the path and disappeared out of sight.

They walked over towards the pool, hand in hand. Dimly, far to their left, they could see a square patch of dark earth, which was all that remained of the burnt log cabin. Even the ashes had been taken away. They kept going until they reached the rocky edge of the pool. Steam rose from it, looking ghostly and delicate in the candlelight. Rose laughed.

"This is all a bit Lord of the Rings, isn't it?" she said.

The Doctor chuckled.

"No elves though," he said. "Well, not any more. They headed off to another planet, oooh, about fifteen thousand years ago now."

"Shut up," said Rose. "It was just a story, that fella, what's his name, Tolkien. He made it up!"

"Nope! I met him. Got a bit drunk one night in a pub in Oxford. We ended up talking and I might have been a bit less guarded than usual, on account of all the beer. Thought he was drunk too, but the crafty sod was faking it. Wrote it all down and passed it off as a work of fiction."

"Shut up!" said Rose. "You have GOT to be kidding me!"

"Are you calling me a liar?" said the Doctor, trying to look affronted but as he couldn't stop smiling, it didn't really work. He looked so cute that Rose couldn't resist leaning in for a kiss. He moved forward and met her lips with his own, gently. He brought up a hand to stroke her hair, and she gave an almost cat-like purr of pleasure, and parted her lips, allowing his tongue access to her mouth. She slid her hands up from his lower back to his neck and up into his hair, running her fingers through it sensuously.

She was beginning to learn where he liked to be touched, well, apart from the obvious places of course. He groaned as she played with his hair, tugging on it. She moved forward slightly so that her body was pressed up against him. He felt her shiver, and pulled back.

"You're cold," he said. It was a statement rather than a question. She nodded. They both looked down at the steaming, hot pool of water next to them, then looked at each other again. The Doctor had a decidedly wicked grin on his face. She suddenly realised what he was about to do and stepped backwards, her hands upraised, laughing.

"Don't you da..." she didn't get the chance to finish. He strode forwards, wrapped his arms around her then span round, swinging her round with him. He teetered for a moment on the edge of the pool, then fell backward, pulling her with him. They hit the water with an almighty splash and went under.

He surfaced first, laughing, and whipped his head around, sending a spray of droplets flying out into the night, then ran both hands through his hair, pushing it back from his face.

She bobbed up a second later, her eyes were scrunched closed and she spat out a mouthful of hot water, then gasped. She dragged her arm across her face, then opened her eyes. She glared at him, trying to look cross, but just couldn't keep a straight face. So she splashed him instead.

"I can NOT believe you just did that!" she said.

"Oi!" he said, backing away to avoid the tidal wave of water she sent in his direction. "I don't know why you're so annoyed. I was just trying to warm you up. You were cold, and now you're not! Problem solved!"

"Yeah, well I had another way we could warm up in mind...and it didn't involve jumping into a pool of water fully clothed!" she said, managing to somehow bite her lip and grin at the same time.

"Oh really?" he said, looking amused, not to mention aroused. He swam closer to her, but she let herself float backwards, out of his reach. He made a little frustrated noise in the back of his throat, and she laughed.

"But you see, now I'm in here, I'm actually enjoying it. So you'll just have to wait!" he groaned theatrically, and sank down into the water so that only his head was visible. She laughed, and did the same, then closed her eyes.

The water was perfect. Hot, but not too hot. She could feel it soothing away all her aches and pains. She sighed with pleasure.

She felt, rather than saw, the Doctor swim around behind her. She felt his arms slide around her waist and he gently pulled her backwards against him so that she ended up nestled comfortably between his legs. He had one arm wrapped round her, his hand on her stomach, and he let his other hand rest on the top of her thigh. They were in a sitting position, backed up against the side of the pool, a few feet away from the little waterfall.

He rested his chin on top of her head, and stroked her leg gently. She made a soft 'mmmm' noise and wiggled slightly, then smiled when he felt him press his lips against her wet hair and moan. She wriggled again, pretending that she was just trying to get comfortable, and she felt his arm tighten around her waist, pulling her against him. His breathing was heavy and ragged.

Her stomach tightened and fluttered with nervous excitement, and she felt her heart start to beat harder in her chest. It was really going to happen, finally, after all this time. She moved against him again and he brought his other hand up from her leg, and gently traced it up and down her side.

She suddenly couldn't wait any longer, delicious anticipation was one thing, but she'd waited for much too long already, they both had. She stood up, water cascading down her body, and turned around to face him. He was still sitting, looking up at her with an intense expression of desire on his face. His eyes were burning into hers, and she didn't flinch away from his gaze, enjoying the way his eyes roved over her body hungrily, drinking her in. Her pink t-shirt was moulded to her skin: the water had made it semi-transparent, and she wasn't wearing a bra. He was staring at her breasts, hopelessly, helplessly turned on.

"Rose," he whispered, his voice sounded strained and ragged, heavy with arousal. She just reached her hand out to him, and he took it, then stood up. They just stood there, facing each other, waist deep in the water. He looked deeply into her eyes, and saw the same desire that he was feeling reflected in them. He put up a hand to stroke her face and then looked into her eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly. She just nodded and smiled, then gasped as he closed the gap between them and thrust his mouth against hers, kissing her fiercely. He put everything he had into that kiss, and she felt the sheer depth of his desire. His love for her was so full of fury and power, it was as if a dam had burst. His hands went to the back of her head, pulling her closer so he could kiss her even more deeply. She felt his tongue enter her mouth roughly, hungrily. His hands descended, running down her back to cup her bottom. He lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist and put her arms around his neck.

She squeezed his waist with her thighs, urging him on, and he growled into her mouth, but didn't break the kiss. If anything, he kissed her even harder, and Rose felt herself completely dissolve. She lost any capacity for rational thought, her heart was beating so hard and so quickly that she felt like it was going to explode. She felt heat begin to steadily build between her legs in an aching, throbbing pulse. Then, slowly, he began to move across the pool to the steps on the far side, still kissing her. He paused to shift his grip on her, and as he did so she slipped lower.

Her hips were suddenly level with his and she felt his hardness press against her, and she gasped. She pulled her head back, looking up into his dark, smouldering eyes. She felt heat flood her body. How often had she dreamed of this when she lay in her bedroom in the TARDIS? And now it was really happening...her vision clouded and she had to close her eyes for a second, afraid she might pass out.

They reached the slippery steps that had been cut into the side of the pool beside the little waterfall and he reluctantly put her down. She took his hand and led the way, climbing up in front of him. He loved the slinky, sensuous way she moved, her black trousers skin tight, moulded to her...

"Oi, are you looking at my bum?" she said, with a little laugh.

"Mmmm," he said, "can't really help it. It's right there, so cute and round and..." he reached out with his free hand and gave one cheek a firm squeeze, making her jump and lose her footing. She slipped on the mossy steps and fell backwards, but he caught her easily and lifted her in his arms, carrying her up the last couple of steps. He had one arm underneath her legs, and was cradling her against his chest with the other. Her face was just below his, looking up at him. He kissed her, and carried her along the candle-lined path, leaving wet footprints on the ground behind him. Water dripped from Rose's clothes and put out a couple of the candles as they passed.

They reached the front door of the cabin, and the Doctor nudged it open gently with one foot, then carried her inside. The significance of this wasn't lost on either of them, and they looked at each other and smiled.

The cabin had been transformed. Every speck of dust had been removed, and the wooden surfaces and furniture inside had been polished to within an inch of their life. A fire was burning in the stone fireplace, and someone had stacked a pile of wood in a crate to one side. There was a table in the corner, and it was piled with food and drink. There were vases of flowers and candles everywhere. The air was warm and smelled of beeswax, perfume and pine resin. It was lovely.

"Wow," said Rose, looking round, still cradled in the Doctor's arms. He carried her over to the fire, and gently laid her down on the soft, fur rug in front of it.

"We need to get you out of those wet things," he said, with a smile.

"Right back at ya," she murmured. She propped herself up on her elbows, her eyes drinking him in, tracing the contours of his body, clearly visible beneath the soaked T-shirt he was wearing that clung to him in all the right places.

He grinned, and then leant forward and kissed her again, ran his hands down her body until they reached the bottom of her T-shirt and gently lifted it, pulling it upwards over her head and throwing it into a corner. Then he looked down, and the sight of her took his breath away. She was lying stretched out on the rug, the fire casting a golden, flickering light over her half-naked body. He exhaled once, suddenly, as if he'd been winded, and she saw that look flicker across his eyes again: a smouldering, burning look which made an answering heat flood through her body.

He leant forward and kissed her neck gently, then her collarbone, running his tongue delicately along the ridge it made beneath her skin. She shivered, and her nipples hardened, gathering themselves into little peaks. He kissed the swell of each breast once, softly, and then ran his tongue along the valley between them, before delicately brushing one nipple with his lips. She cried out, and clutched at his back convulsively. He took it into his mouth and sucked, and she made unintelligible, animal noises of pleasure and ran her hands through his hair. Then, he suddenly realised he hadn't been paying them equal attention, and switched to the other one. She gasped and arched her back.

"You taste so good," he murmured, captivated by the sweet, milky taste of her skin.

His fingers travelled to the waistband of her trousers, then he paused, twisted and reached backwards instead, tugging off her wet shoes and socks roughly, then reached for her waist again, only to find that she was one step ahead of him and that she'd already undone her top button.

"Hey," he growled, swatting her hand away. "That's my job!"

His heart was racing in his chest and for the first time in his life, (all nine hundred years of it) he felt dizzy. Although he was pretty sure he'd feel dizzy even if he still had two hearts and the ability to bypass his respiratory system. The the way he was feeling was almost too intense to bear, it was as if he was burning inside. Also, he was so hard that he had begun to ache, a dull throb which was almost painful. He saw Rose glance down at his crotch and lift her eyebrow. Then she looked up at him and gave him a look that was so nakedly lustful that he almost lost control.

"Rose..." he said, his voice husky with desire. She lifted her hips and he hooked his fingers under her waistband, and slowly peeled off her trousers as if he were unwrapping a present. He was groaning with need, and once they were clear of her feet he hurled them aside and moved on top of her, kissing her deeply, claiming her. His soaked t-shirt made contact with her dry skin and she shivered, and interrupted their kiss to tug it roughly up over his head.

Once she'd pulled it free she threw it behind her, and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of her and meeting his lips with her own in a deep, searching, sensuous kiss that was different to the rough, possessive, hungry way they'd been kissing up until then. It was a kiss of love, assurance, and trust, and he felt the fire inside him die down, just a little. He relaxed into her arms and became suddenly gentle, kissing her slowly and tenderly. He lifted himself up slightly, as he suddenly realised he must be half-crushing her (although she hadn't complained).

She continued to kiss him, and as she was doing that she traced her fingers lightly across his bare chest, stroking and exploring his body. He was so toned and firm, with a slight sprinking of hair between his nipples that travelled down towards his stomach. She traced the descending path of it until she reached his waistband. He groaned. Gently, she undid his belt, and then his fly, and edged his trousers down slightly. He pulled back and looked at her, then grinned.

"Rose Tyler," he said, in an amazed tone of voice, then he chuckled. She totally understood how he felt. She felt exactly the same way. It was incredible that they'd managed to finally reach this point, crossing whole universes just to see each other again. She thought of everything they'd been through together and smiled back.

Together they managed to get his trousers off, although there was a few seconds of confusion when he realised he was still wearing his soaking wet trainers, and he had to lift himself off her for a moment to turn and undo them. He threw them out of the way, and his trousers followed a second later.

They looked at each other. Rose was lying on the rug, wearing nothing apart from a rather skimpy pair of blue lace knickers, and he was kneeling between her legs in a pair of plain, black boxers which were under a great deal of strain.

Rose sat up, and kissed him, then she slowly ran her hand down his chest until she reached the waistband of his boxers. He made a noise that was half-groan, half whimper and she broke the kiss and turned her attention to his neck, then kissed his ear, putting her lips up against it.

"I love you," she whispered, and then she slipped her hand inside his shorts.

They both gasped as she took hold of him. The touch of her fingers there almost sent him over the edge, and he groaned. She was amazed by the feel of him, so hard and hot against her palm. She moved her hand up and down, gently. He was so much bigger than she'd expected. Those baggy suits of his had been hiding an amazing secret. He gasped, took hold of her wrist, gently, and lifted her hand away. She frowned for a second, but then he moved backwards, and she saw that he was about to take off his shorts. Her stomach tightened.

"Allow me," she said, her voice trembling with barely surpressed desire. He froze, and she slid her hands over his bottom, pushing them down over his hips so that he suddenly sprang free. Her eyes lit up, and she reached out to take hold of him but he just shook his head, and she saw that smouldering look on his face again. He trailed his hands down her sides until they reached her hips, then seized her blue lace panties and tore them off. Then he slipped a gentle hand between her legs, groaning when he felt how wet she was.

She cried out, the touch of his hand was almost more than she could bear, she was so sensitive down there. He moved to lie on top of her, needing to feel her body against his.

"Rose," he murmured, his mouth against her ear. She wrapped her arms around him. He continued to stroke her and she felt a delicious ache beginning to build between her legs, then it spread across to her hips and belly and she knew she wouldn't last much longer.

"Doctor..." she gasped. "Please..." He looked into her eyes, they were filled with passion and need. He moved his hand away and kissed her, then gently brushed his thumb along the contours of her inner thigh. She moaned, and opened her legs for him. He moved between them, and she felt him pressing against her.

"Yes, yes..." she said in a whisper. Her hands slid down to grab his hips, and she pulled him towards her, urging him on. She felt the pressure increase as he pushed forward. She spread her legs wider, and lifted her hips. He edged inside her slowly and she cried out. Despite her wetness, she felt him stretching her. He was so big...

She hadn't been with anyone for over four years, not since Mickey, and her body wasn't prepared for the sheer size of him. She felt a tight, burning sensation for the first few seconds, but it quickly faded. He pressed forward again, and she lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his back, drawing him deeper into her.

The Doctor gasped as he thrust into her, she was so incredibly tight. His whole length was buried inside her now and he stopped moving, lying still, giving her body a few seconds to adjust. He could feel her inner walls pulsing around him, it was incredible, amazing. Then, he began to move again: slow, gentle strokes that made Rose gasp with pleasure. She lifted her hips in time with his, matching his rhythm perfectly.

The Doctor's eyes were locked on hers, and she just looked up at him. His eyes were so dark, and serious, and beautiful. They were both moaning in unison now, and he lowered his head to meet hers, kissing her deeply, his tongue entering her mouth. She caressed it with her own, and he groaned.

Her whole body trembled, and she began to move more quickly beneath him. He sped up, increasing his pace to match her own. Rose's hips began to buck wildly, and she turned her head and cried out. He felt her tighten around him, and he began to plunge into her even harder.

"Oh God!" she cried. "Yes!" she was so close now, she couldn't even breathe, but she could feel him getting even harder inside her and she tried to resist her orgasm, wanting to wait until he was ready too, but was thrusting into her so quickly...she screamed again, and raked her fingernails across his bare back.

"Rose," he gasped, and then he came. The sensation of him coming inside her pushed Rose over the edge. Her thighs locked tightly around his back, squeezing him. She was screaming, thrashing around and crying. Her hands were buried in his hair and she was pulling it without even realising. She was dimly aware that she was biting him, although he didn't even feel it. He was still buried deeply inside her, feeling the throbbing pulse of her orgasm.

His arms trembled once, convulsively. He suddenly lost the ability to hold himself up anymore, and collapsed on top of her. She burrowed her face into the gap between his neck and shoulder, nuzzling into him and he rolled slightly to one side, drawing her against him, his arm underneath her, cradling her.

The candles had all gone out, and the fire had burned low. The embers cast a soft, red-gold light over them both. Rose's whole face was glowing, she looked radiantly beautiful. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He smiled, realising that he was behaving like a lovestruck teenager, then leant forward and kissed her gently.

"You ok?" he said.

"Mmm, never better," she said with a grin. He laughed, and kissed her again. She burrowed deeper into his arms and let out a contented little sigh. He kissed the top of her head lovingly, and closed his eyes.

"Rose Tyler, I love you," he whispered. he felt her stir in his arms.

"I love you too," she murmured.

She fell silent, and he assumed she'd drifted off to sleep. He'd just started to doze off himself when he heard her voice again and opened his eyes dazedly. She looked up at him.

"So about these Old Ways…" she said. He sighed. He'd hoped she might have forgotten.

"Oh Rose, I'm sorry. But what good would it have done if I'd have told you about them? Even the TARDIS couldn't survive a trip through the Kodaira dimension."

"Yeah," she said, looking up, her eyes twinkling, amused. "But you're forgetting that the Kodaira dimension is also a Reimann sphere: a one-dimensional complex projective space. If you were to use a hermitian vector bundle of sufficiently complex rank you could convert it into a smooth manifold just long enough to get through."

The Doctor's jaw dropped, literally. He gaped at her, completely speechless. She sat up, loving the effect her words were having.

"Couldn't get the maths right though, in the end," she said with a self deprecating little shrug. "But as it turned out I didn't need to, the walls of reality broke down on their own, thanks to the Daleks."

The Doctor just continued to stare at her, wide eyed. She waved a hand in front of his stunned face, and he blinked.

"What, do you think I just sat on my arse watching TV and hoping you'd show up at some point? I went to college, got my A-Levels, although they don't call them that here, they're ALCs: Advanced Learning Certificates. It was hard, at first, but the thought of finding a way back to you kept me motivated. I split my time between my studies and my job at Torchwood, doing research there and working on the dimension cannon. I'd just finished my module in Algebraic Topology and Quantum Physics when Torchwood contacted me about the rifts reopening. So I left and went to find you."

"How long have you been waiting to tell me that?!" he said, with an incredulous look on his face.

"Ages!" she said, with a laugh. "It just never seemed to be the right time though. All that running away from Daleks and zombie wolves kind of got in the way a bit."

"Rose Tyler," said the Doctor, a grin spreading slowly across his face. "You are brilliant. Literally brilliant." He gave her a look of such fierce pride that she laughed, and kissed him.

"Come a long way since Henrick's, haven't I?" she said, with a smile.

"Oh yes! Yes you have. Rose Tyler, you're incredible."

He covered her face and neck with gentle kisses, and she laughed and rolled onto her back, pulling him on top of her...

THE END


End file.
